Waking Dream [Tales of the Citadel 23] by Viola Grace Page A

been here at least once in their lives, and she wasn’t even allowed to enjoy the contact with her departed progenitors.
    They met the villagers on their way out. Apparently, even a Prishkin could follow the sight of a hovering shuttle. Burin parked in a bare field and walked toward them, standing at her side.
    She felt the strength that he was going to offer, but she froze in place when she saw the woman leading the villagers. She swallowed and continued onward.
    The rescued idiots were surrounded by friends and family and whisked away.
    “Elder, I apologise for touching my feet to your soil. I beg forgiveness for entering the temple of the gods with one foot.” She stood straight and stared at her maternal grandmother.
    “I know you child, don’t I?” Elder Miyan looked at her carefully.
    “I am Wiyra Kwinto.”
    The elder reeled in shock. “You can’t be.”
    “I can and am.” She opened the seal on one of the tight sleeves and showed the marks on her skin that mimicked Miyan’s.
    “My daughter died.”
    “She left two sons and two daughters.”
    Elder Miyan blinked rapidly. “You are obviously familiar with some of our traditions, so you know that there must be a sacrifice for the trespass.”
    “I know it.”
    “Good, it will be arranged. Follow us to the square where you may make the sacrifice.” Elder Miyan walked away abruptly.
    Burin followed with Wiyra. “She is really your grandmother?”
    “One of them. The other was an Uhn. Grandpa was nervous, but he was well-loved.”
    “She hasn’t seen you.”
    “No, once a Prishkin woman leaves her world, she can’t return. Once she mates with someone outside her species, she is dead to her family. It is their way. The picture I have must have been their wedding day.”
    “At least you have that image of them. It seems like Miyan is not welcoming to her own blood.”
    “My mother was an only child. Miyan has no grandchildren but us.”
    Burin held her hand in his, and she took the comfort for the emotional surprise she had just undergone. Shesali hadn’t mentioned that the population was Prishkin, but then, why would she when the people of this world didn’t speak to others except under duress.
    Urada was the name of her mother’s home world, and Wiyra was going to hold it close to her heart. It was another piece of herself found in the scattered reaches of space. She held Burin’s hand tightly. Not every piece of her soul would come to her.
     
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
     
     
    “Prove to me that you can uphold the honour of your bloodline.” Her grandmother grinned at her. It was the first warmth that Miyan had shown.
    Wiyra looked at the assembled folks and the band that was setting up. “You have to be kidding.”
    “I am not. You trespassed on our sacred beach, and you have to show proper tribute to the gods. It won’t be horrible, I am sure your mother taught you what she could before she passed on to the great stellar wave.” Miyan looked thoughtful. “Mind you, she wasn’t a very skilled dancer.”
    Burin put the nail in her coffin. “Whatever price needs to be paid, I owe half for my part in her landing.”
    Elder Miyan clapped her hands, and the band started up.
    Wiyra turned to Burin and whispered, “You have no idea what you just agreed to.”
    He jumped as the drums picked up ferocity. “Uh, what do we have to do?”
    “Why, dear partner, we have to dance.” She ignored his surprised look and backed up while holding his hands. The crowd formed a circle around them, and as the music and beat became insistent, she started to sway.
    She pressed her hands against his palms and used her arms to move him to the beat. After a few stunned seconds, he relaxed and stepped forward and back with her to the sound of the drums and the strange metallic chixka.
    She twisted with him until he was behind her and his hands were on his hips. The crowd murmured appreciatively as she kept stepping in time and Burin followed.
    She heard