Sosa`s eyes puffed up as to force her to close them and sleep. Her mother`s eyes looked worse as they poured tears over Halo who lay motionless in the cot.

　　How did you&?` Kala began but then looked at Sosa and saw the scratches and cuts all over her. What did you do?` Fear and worry joined the fatigue weighing on her features.

　　We`re fine,` Sosa said, arms wrapped tight around her mother. She could not lie, but neither was the truth an option. It`s just spiky bushes and night time don`t mix well. We`re okay, I promise.`

　　Look like you both went through a scratch-bush face first.` Grammawe had followed Kala to the hut and perched on a stool to one side where she watched over her unconscious grandson. Looks like you came off better than him, though.`

　　A weak voice from Halo`s cot saved her from further interrogation.

　　He`s waking up!` Sosa cried. He was moving, trying to talk. Why was no one else excited? Halo? Can you hear me, twiglet? Please?`

　　He has a fever,` Raela looked grave.

　　The ki keep him,` said Grammawe. He talks only to them now. They`ll not give him back easy.`

　　Sosa`s elation turned to mud. What can we do?`

　　I will do what I can.` Raela said, not looking up from Halo`s wound which she packed with a thick paste.

　　Ask Ale-ki to petition the ki to leave him be. Not that the tree`ll do you much good. Get some metal round him, stop them getting a decent hold. Keep a candle lit so there`s light to find his way back. Could do worse than giving the ki something else to think about.`

　　How do we do that?` Sosa asked.

　　#

　　We should never have let you in.`

　　Ego tried to melt away from Sosa who kept jabbing the point of the spearhead as punctuation. It`s not my fault,` he muttered. They had come to make sure he was still hidden and wasn`t about to do anything stupid to give himself, or them, away.

　　Sosa also wanted to hit him.

　　Sosa.` Talon`s voice was quiet, but far from soft. We can`t blame Ego.`

　　He,` she stabbed out and Ego flinched, talked nonsense about running the rotting trees and fighting bodaki. Three days in the forest. Is any of it true?`

　　Ego stared at the floor.

　　From this point, Ego will learn the virtue of silence,` Talon`s calm was strained, but this is no more his fault than mine. I should have watched Halo more carefully.`

　　Her father blamed himself, but Sosa knew differently. Halo talked endlessly about the spear and Grampawe`s imagined adventures. He`d obsessed about Ego. If she`d kept her head instead of getting herself punished, perhaps she`d have been around to stop him.

　　Fine. But when Halo wakes up, you don`t speak to him, not one word, ever. Understand?` She sat down on one of the other cots in the disused hut, tapping the bronze spearhead on her palm. What are we going to do with him, Pawe? He needs food, water. If he snores he`ll give us all away. If they find him&?` Sosa stared at the boy and Ego looked back at his feet. He had no answers. This time, they won`t give us to the trees. They`ll just kill us.` She glared at Ego. Will it be your fault then?`

　　Ego opened his mouth, but no words fitted through it.

　　Talon pulled Sosa close. You know me better than that. There was more to my plan than just this.` His voice was calm. She should have trusted him, he never did anything without a plan. But now, I have a better one.`

　　We need a plan for how we get the ki to give Halo back, I`m not wasting time on this lump of moss.`

　　I have an idea that will solve both problems.` Talon smiled. Come on, the council are waiting and for once they asked nicely.`

　　They made their way from the disused hut to the centre of the village. The gathered crowd was full of sympathetic congratulations and hopes for Halo`s recovery. News of Halo`s return had spread fast. They approached the council building where the Elders gathered. Most of the village turned out behind them. Talon leaned into her. Don`t say anything. Let me do the talking.`

　　We are pleased to hear your son has returned to you,` said chief Elder Jode.

　　I`d like to know the nature of this return.` Elder Hora`s tone lacked sympathy as if in deliberate contrast to Jode`s. Talon was told by the chief himself not to go into the forest after his son.`

　　Yes, I remember. Elder Jode made it clear that if Halo was in the trees, he was certainly dead.` Her father`s words were light, delivered with a sting, not a heavy blow. It is the nature of this I have come to discuss with the Elders, with the whole village in fact.`

　　Sosa`s eyes shot up to him. They had been summoned here, not the other way around.

　　Her father didn`t sound as tired as she felt. His voice carried across the assemblage.

　　Halo is a young boy. He is not aware of the things the rest of us fear. When the council decreed young Ego - a boy Halo was enthralled by - should be given to the trees, Halo snook into the forest to look for his friend. He is young, who can blame him?` Talon gave a slow theatrical shrug which reminded Sosa of the mannerisms Jode often used when trying to win a crowd. We found him floating in Highstream. We thought he`d fallen in.` Talon paused and looked around, The ki had yet to take him and he was able to tell me he had come from beyond Highstream,` there was a ripple, but Talon did not pause for it, that Gris was there. The old thief attacked him and dumped him in the river to drown.`

　　There were gasps and the ripple broke into a dozen angry conversations of villagers and Elders alike. Talon`s dramatic story created a stir enough to stop any further questions, though Sosa could see Hora`s eyes narrowing. She tried to keep her own face expressionless as she listened to her father lie to the council.

　　Gris lives above Highstream, and he tried to kill my son.` The angry muttering grew into outraged cries. Talon had judged the village well. They were tired of Gris, but too afraid to do anything. This was the first time Sosa had heard anyone dare even suggest it. Her father gave her a look of reassurance. Her heart was beating fast. She had never thought he would be capable of lying to the council. It wasn`t all lies. Gris had been iin the village above Highstream, and he had tried to kill Halo. Her father was only lying about they way they found him. Any argument about them leaving the village would overshadow what her father was trying to do, so this small lie was for the best.

　　We should kill the monster.` Someone shouted. There were jeers but also nods.

　　Gris has never killed before but he`s become more violent and I`d say we all knew this day was inevitable. My son only lives because he was found. He is a fighter, but his life will be decided by the ki now. Gris` next victim may not get that chance.` There were more nods. Shall we wait to see who is next to die before we act? Shall we continue to let the old man come and go from the forest, something we know must anger the ki?`

　　The nods turned to cheers of agreement. He was winning the crowd. Elder Jode walked to the fore, hands raised for quiet. He had to wait, but eventually spoke so softly the villagers could barely hear.

　　Clever, Sosa thought.

　　Omaki. My neighbours. My friends. Some of you will know this, but I will remind those who have forgotten. It is fadi to harm our visitor in any way.`

　　Sosa felt her pawe tense. She looked up expecting to see anger, disappointment. There was none. He simply watched, waiting, the tiniest smile on his face. Several of the Elders looked angry. Sosa felt cold. Had her pawe broken fadi in just suggesting going after Gris?The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

　　We must not&` Jode continued but was cut off by angry jeering from among the council. The anger was not directed at her father, but at Jode himself.

　　Sosa could just make out Elder Hora cry, There is no such fadi!`

　　Don`t allow your ignorance&` Jode said, but the angry jeering from the council was louder.

　　Elder Jode.` Hora spoke with an air of authority and ritual. The council, who had drowned out Jode, quietened for her. The penalty for abuse of fadi is severe. You have spoken of these false fadi before and you have been warned, but to do so in such a public forum is unforgivable and shameful.` She paused to allow the jeers from the council to rise and fall. Was the youngest of the Elder council enjoying this? Her face suggested so, almost as if she`d been waiting for a moment like this. To try and influence the village by perpetuating these lies is beyond fadi.`

　　Elder Jode tried to speak, but the villagers joined in with the spectacle of Hora`s vitriol and he was drowned out.

　　Had Jode really made up this fadi to get his own way and stop them from taking revenge on Gris? Or did he truly believe his own words? It was unlikely - why would there be some half forgotten fadi to protect an old thief and now murderer? Jode must have known this would divide the council, why risk voicing it like this unless he really believed? It wasn`t Sosa`s problem and she wasn`t about to feel sorry for the old man

　　Elder Jode,` Elder Hora swelled as if inflated by the importance of the pronouncement she was about to make. We punish harshly those who abuse fadi. To do so in such a position of authority, of trust, to take advantage of your privileged position must be met with the most severe punishment.`

　　The meeting erupted into shouting as finally a few of the Elder spoke out in defence of Jode, but the voices were few and they were lost in a tide of anger. This tension had not come from nowhere, it had been secretly brewing for some time. How had her pawe known?

　　Did you do that on purpose?` Sosa whispered, though with the shouting, whispering wasn`t necessary.

　　Her father smiled. Virtues of having a chronicler for a wife and an Elder for a mother,` he whispered. Sometimes I overhear useful snippets.` Villagers around them were still shouting for Talon and more than a few clapped him on the shoulder.

　　I see what you`re up to.` Sosa said, You never thought for a moment the council would let you go after Gris.`

　　Talon just smiled at her and shook his head.

　　But now everyone is shouting for his head.`

　　And more important, they`re too busy to even remember to tell me not to.` Talon said. The knot of feuding elders were drifting back towards the council chambers to take their brawl of words away from village ears, the discussion that sparked the inferno forgotten.

　　Talon and Sosa slipped away, returning to her mother and Halo.

　　It was later, on an errand to collect water, that Sosa found Jode sitting alone in the stripes cast by a banefruit tree. She hesitated, almost walking around him, but instead placed her jug on the floor. Her father had done nothing wrong, the mistake had been all the Elder`s but Sosa worried that Jode might be angry with Talon anyway. She wasn`t sure what, if anything, she could say.

　　I`m sorry about Halo,` he said without looking up. I spent the afternoon asking Ale-ki for his recovery.`

　　Thank you,` she said, her feet shuffling, hands hesitating over the jug. The chief did not look angry and curiosity stayed her feet. Why would you make up a fadi about Gris?` Why risk mentioning it for no reason?

　　Jode let out a sad sigh. While I`m an old man and there are many things I forget, I do know what has been passed on to me. I worry about the future if this is not being passed on to others. Sosa,` Jode sat up, watching her, fadi isn`t something to be used or ignored when it is convenient. We don`t question it or try to reason it out, or reason with it. You know all that?`

　　Sosa knew; she had been taught well.

　　Being ignorant of fadi does not make you immune to it, or its consequences, and there would be consequences.`

　　Sosa felt a chill.

　　What if it really was breaking fadi to go after Gris? What if their plan only made things worse? No. He was just a coward and he didn`t want them going after Gris because he was afraid. That was all. If it was truly fadi, then the council would not have fallen out with him about it.

　　Your mother is teaching you to read and write the record, I understand? To be chronicler?` Jode asked. Sosa nodded. Then she has told you about the fire?`

　　Sosa thought. Yes, long ago. The record got destroyed along with all our history.`

　　It is believed the fire was the result of broken fadi. I had thought we would have learned from this, but I fear the ki will need to teach us again if we have not.`

　　What makes you think that harming Gris is fadi when most of the council don`t agree?` Sosa asked.

　　Mark me, Sosa. Breaking fadi with Gris again will bring punishment far worse.`

　　Sosa shook her head. The old man was clearly confused; the fire was generations ago, it had nothing to do with Gris. Worse than Gris trying to kill my brother?` Some of the water splashed onto her feet as she snatched the jug up and stormed away. Why would the ki protect an old thief? It didn`t make any sense. Gris might be old, maybe even older than the chief, but to have a fadi exist about him? It was very unlikely. It was clear to Sosa that the fadi made no sense. Perhaps the chief`s old mind had come a little loose, like Grammawe. Old age took its toll, sometimes on the body and sometimes the mind. Once she realised this could be the reason, she nearly felt sorry for the old man. Almost.

　　The council were not as sympathetic. The news reached them that Jode had been removed as chief while further discussion was had. It did not take the council of Elders long, and they were unsympathetic. It seemed to Sosa they`d been looking for an excuse to do this for a while.

　　While Sosa trickled water in an unsettled Halo`s mouth, the council convened and the village gathered with an uncomfortable excitement, a horrid fascination. This was the second exile, in a short time. The second in many of their lifetimes. More than that, though, this was the exile of a chief.

　　Sosa found Talon. He looked subdued. He`d seeded disruption as a smoke screen, but he never wanted this. A quiet tension stretched between every witness and worried eyes looked around, expecting retribution from the ki who watched from the corners of their village. Hora`s voice rang over the throng as they moved towards the trees.

　　Sosa watched the man who had punished her, who had impeded their attempts to save Halo, and expected to feel vindication. As Jode shuffled towards his exile and certain death, what she felt was closer to compassion.

　　Should she try and whisper to him about the path and the ruins? He would be exiled, but if he could make it, there was a chance he would actually survive.

　　Wait!` A familiar voice cut through the throng. Sosa had never heard her mother`s voice so loud. Kala was pushing through the crowd with Grammawe trailing and smiling at those who gathered as if surprised to find them all there.

　　The procession shambled to a halt and Hora did not try to ignore them as Jode would have. Hora bowed her head slightly in greeting to the village chroniclers both the present and the past.

　　Grammawe, tell them what you told me.` Kala said. Tell them about the fadi. Tell them about Gris.`

　　Silence fell over the villagers. All eyes settled on Grammawe. The old woman returned each gaze, a small expectant smile as she politely waited for someone to speak.

　　Give me strength,` muttered Kala. Then much louder, Tell them about Gris, about the fadi.`

　　Once more eyes fell on Grammawe. Once more she stood in silence and leaned on her cane. Why is everyone here?`

　　Kala groaned, but when Hora opened her mouth to speak, Kala shot her a glance that embodied all the stress of the last day.

　　You told me about Gris?` Kala said to Grammawe, scraping patience onto her words.

　　When I was young,` Grammawe said, the crowd leaned in, there was a man. My own grammawe, who was chronicler, warned me I was never to speak to him or to harm him. She said he was ki. Not bodaki, not anki, not one of the lesser ki, but ki just the same. My grammawe was a waternut picker. She used to take one nut in secret and leave it on the edge of the forest for the man. She said she didn`t know why, but it was something her mother and her grammawe had taught her.` She looked over at Talon. It was more words than most had heard from the retired chronicler`s mouth in years.

　　There was silence as people waited for more. Sosa listened, enraptured. Grammawe peered back at them. Why are you all here?`

　　We think,` Kala explained, addressing the villagers as much as the Elders, that this man might have been an exile and some predecessor of Gris`. I don`t believe Gris or this exile were ki, but clearly some villagers did.` Kala placed her hands on either side of Grammawe`s shoulders as she wobbled. And if it is possible some villagers thought he was ki, it is likely they thought some fadi was attached? Even if they were mistaken?`

　　It seemed to Sosa there were fadi attached to everything, but especially anything related to ki, anki, Ale-ki, bodaki or any of the others.

　　My grammawe used to make an extra skirt and leave it on the edge of the forest for the ki.` It was the weaver, Orello`s mother.

　　My grammawe used to whittle tools and leave them on the exile`s path,` said another voice. He never said why, said it was something they did before the fire, but&` the voice tailed off.

　　Other voices joined in. Apparently everyone`s grammawe seemed to have left offerings at the edge of the trees, a practice that had been handed down but had gradually died off.

　　Hora frowned. I don`t see how this relates to Elder Jode`s false fadi&`

　　Don`t you?` Kala interrupted. Sosa stared at her mother in both horror and pride. We have forgotten these traditions for whatever reason and the fadi that might have gone along with them. So perhaps they are false or misbelieved and it is good they are being forgotten, but we cannot blame one of our Elders for being careful about a fadi, simply because the rest of us have forgotten? Either way, it shows this was not something Elder Jode made up himself. It is not abuse of fadi. Speaking as one whose son is in the hands of the ki, I would not risk angering them further by giving our chief to the trees on such uncertainty.`

　　Without a word from Hora, the procession reversed and began to funnel Elder Jode away from the trees and back into the village. The decision had been made, it seemed.

　　Sosa ran and hugged her mother, then slid under Grammawe`s arm and took her weight as the rest of the crowd dispersed. Elder Hora did not look as angry as Sosa expected, but thoughtful. Perhaps she had actually listened and considered Kala`s words? Her mmawe on the other hand, looked like she might be sick. Sosa grasped her mother`s hand briefly, not wishing to release Grammawe now she had taken her weight.

　　Is it true, Grammawe? Is Gris ki?` Sosa whispered.

　　Don`t be silly.` Grammawe chuckled. What would the ki need with a stolen banefruit picker?`