"I see among you today, in this very gathering, men who will undoubtedly hold Council seats one day. From my own clan alone I see several—there is that brilliant Bel-rogas alumnus, Grandfather Kiv peGanz Brajjyd, now one of the most valued members of my staff, and there are others here as well. And to whom do we owe this? To whom—"
The Elder's voice grew louder and more impassioned.
Sindi threaded her way through the close-packed listeners searching for her father. She tried to remember where he had been sitting when she saw him from the stable, and headed in that general direction. The assembled Nidorians were sitting quietly and soaking in the Elder's words. He launched into a long quotation from the Scripture, which Sindi, almost as a reflex, recognized as being from the Eighteenth Section. As the Elder began to unfold the complexities of the quotation, Sindi caught sight of Kiv again. There was an empty seat at his left,, No doubt she had been expected to be sitting there.
She edged through the narrow aisle and slid into the seat. Kiv nodded a rather cold welcome to her as she sat down.
"Thus, as it is said in the Scripture,'' the Elder went on, " 'Those beloved of the Great Light shall hold tomorrow in their hands.' We must never forget this, my friends. May the Great Light illumine your minds as He does the world."
Drel peNibro stepped down from the rostrum and took his seat. The assembly relaxed, easing the long tension built up while the Elder was speaking. Kiv leaned over to whisper to Sindi.
"Where have you been?" he asked harshly. "I've been expecting you all afternoon. You said you'd meet me for midmeal!"
"I'm sorry, Kiv," she told him. "I was busy in the labs and couldn't get free till just now."
"In the labs? On Commemoration Day? Sindi, if you're—"
"Please, Kiv", she said in annoyance. "I came as quickly as I could. Have I missed much?"
"Only the Elder Brajjyd's speech," Kiv said in a tone of heavy sarcasm. "He mentioned me. Apparently I'm back in his good graces for a while, no thanks to you."
"Father! You know I didn't mean to seem disrespectful, that day I didn't give the Grandfather the proper salute. It was only that I was late for classes, and—"
"Forget it, Sindi. The Elder seemed quite upset about it at the time, but perhaps he's forgotten it. Meanwhile, I've brought someone I'd like you to meet."
Kiv gestured to a strange man sitting at his left. "This is Yorgen peBor Yorgen," Kiv said. "Yorgen peBor, this is my daughter, Sindi geKiv."
"Pleased, I'm sure," Yorgen peBor said, in a not-very-enthusiastic tone. Sindi returned his greeting with a similar sentiment.
"You may know Yorgen peBor's father," Kiv continued. "The Grandfather Bor peYorgen Yorgen. And you're aware who his father is, aren't you?"
Kiv's tone of voice left little doubt.
"The Elder Grandfather Yorgen pe Yorgen Yorgen, of course."
"Yorgen peBor here is his son's son. I'd—I'd like you two to get to know each other well, Sindi." Kiv smiled. What was on his mind was perfectly plain.
Rahn, Sindi thought, half-despairingly. Rahn—1 won't forget you, anyway.
"Certainly, Father," she said aloud, concealing her distress. "I'm sure Yorgen peBor and I will get along splendidly together."
"I'm sure also," Kiv said. He gestured toward the speaker's platform. "That's not Grandfather Syg going up there to speak, is it? Why, he was teaching here when I was going to the School!"
"That's who it is, none the less," Sindi said.
She watched the aged figure climb painfully to the rostrum. The old man, speaking in a dry, withered voice, made some rambling prefatory remarks and embarked on a discussion of the wonderful past of Bel-rogas and the promise the future held. Sindi sat back glumly and contented herself with surreptitiously scrutinizing Yorgen peBor out of the corner of her eye.
So Kiv was going to marry her off, eh? His motivation in arranging such a match was perfectly transparent. Yorgen peBor was of the highest lineage, a direct descendant of the great Lawgiver, Bel-rogas Yorgen.
Besides, Yorgen peBor's father was the Uncle of Public Works, holding a pleasant and well-salaried position, and his father's father was the oldest and most respected member of the Council of Elders. Certainly a marriage into that clan would be advantageous for Kiv as well as for Sindi.
But yet—
She examined Yorgen peBor, sizing him up as a prospective husband. He was big, not especially handsome in Sindi's eyes, though far from plain, and rather stupid-looking in a genteel sort of way. He promised a dull but pleasant kind of existence.
She thought of Rahn—penniless Rahn, whose father was a pauper. Oh, well, she thought. We could never have managed it anyway. Too many factors stood in the way of their marriage.
And now, the biggest and bulkiest factor was Yorgen peBor Yorgen. With a marriage all but arranged, Sindi didn't dare tell her father she didn't like the idea.
She searched the crowd anxiously for Rahn, as Grandfather Syg droned on and on.
I' d like to see him once more, she thought. Just once.
She glanced at her father, suppressed a little snort of rage, and sat back to hear what Grandfather Syg had to say. Yorgen peBor Yorgen appeared incredibly bored with the whole thing.
The celebration was climaxed by a long ceremonial prayer. Sindi wanted desperately to close her eyes against the brilliance of the cloudy sky overhead, but she didn't dare to; her father would see. She didn't want to embarrass Kiv.
At last it ended. The assembly broke up, slowly, and Commemoration Day was over for another year. The multitude fragmented into little clumps of people.
Kiv turned to Sindi as the prayer ended.
"Now I can talk to you." He leaned forward. "Tell me—your letters were all so vague. Do you find the School as wonderful a thing as I did, Sindi?"
"Wonderful?" She looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, of course, yes, Kiv." She had been enrolled for only three weeks. "I've been specializing in chemistry. It's very interesting. I have a little laboratory over in the back building, and I work there."
"A private laboratory?"
"No—not yet. They'll give me a private lab next year, if they like my work. No; I share it with another first year student. We work very well together."
Kiv stroked his golden fuzz reflectively. "That's good to hear. What's her name?"
Sindi paused. After a moment she blurted out: "It's not a her, Kiv. His name is Rahn peDorvis Brajjyd. He's a very good student."
"I see," Kiv said. Sindi could tell that he didn't care much for the idea at all. "Rahn peDorvis Brajjyd, eh? A relative, perhaps?"
"No. I asked him that, as soon as I found out we were of the same clan. His people are from up north, from Sugon. We're not related at all."
Kiv frowned. Sindi watched him anxiously, wondering what it was she had done wrong this time.
"Strictly speaking, you know," Kiv said, "that's not true. All Brajjyds are related, no matter how distantly."
"Oh, Kiv!" Sindi was annoyed. "Don't be so technical all the time. So what if his grandfather ten generations back was a cousin of mine? We're actually not relatives at all, so far as anyone cares."
"So far as the Law cares, you are," Kiv said. "Don't forget that."
At this point Yorgen peBor Yorgen cleared his throat in a meaningful fashion, and Kiv frowned apologetically. "But here we are, quarreling like hungry animals, and I've forgotten about poor Yorgen peBor. I'm sorry I was so impolite," Kiv said.
"You needn't apologize to me, sir," Yorgen said.
It was a good point, thought Sindi. In his over-eagerness to be nice to Yorgen peBor, Kiv had committed something of a breach of etiquette by apologizing to him. No matter how grievously Kiv had offended the younger man, it was out of place for a Grandfather to apologize to anyone younger.