Idrus submerged yet again. He wasn’t sure where he was, but the warm water surrounding him was well-needed. He felt somehow he’d earned it.

Swimming through the marsh had been one of his favorite pastimes when he was young. Returning home covered in dirt and muck from head to toe to his fathers’ and mothers’ chagrin was even better.

This water was soothing and upon opening his eyes to find it clear and blue, he realized where he was. He was in the city. He was home, but he was alone. That also meant Sessel was about.

He decided to swim up, an easy enough endeavor. Once he broke through into the hollowed out black room illuminated only by the pool of water, he screeched.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, my lord. Calm yourself.”

Sessel was one of the few Levelers who refused to leave her second stage even after the wars ended. Idrus reminded her again and again that Earthers were leaving, and there would be no need for diplomacy. Still, Sessel remained in her second stage, a long robe guarding her body most days.

Her jet-black hair, streaked with silver, was her most noticeable feature. It was always braided, streaks of red and yellow woven in. It was a very gaudy way to carry oneself, but it was Sessel’s way, and no one dared oppose her, even after Idrus’s first parents’ passing. Sessel was all that remained of the three of them.

Dragging himself from the pool, Idrus turned onto his back and crashed to the stone floor.

“Why was I put in?” Idrus asked.

Sessel was careful as she shuffled around him, gathering up moss to pat him dry.

“You were filthy. And you had an awful stench to you. When they brought you here, you were still part way through the change. The solvent did the rest.”

Idrus sprawled on the stone, relaxing. “That time was difficult.”

“Daga, we must talk,” Sessel said.

It was never a good sign when she got sentimental enough to use her ranking as second mother so boldly.

“What is it, Sessel?”

“It? It is the Summoner you’ve returned with. The Summoner for which you are shortening your very life by going through the cycles unprompted and unprovoked. That is what it is. You cannot carry on like this.”

Idrus had long suspected this conversation would come.

“Everyone’s uneasy. We are having rains in the season of heat. We had no plans for such a time. What if we run out of food before the rains pass?”

“It is but rain. It will last a few more days. Nothing more.” He said it casually but prayed it wouldn’t affect Nala’s pending births. “It is but rain,” he repeated.

But it had lasted the entire week’s travel from the caves. Instead of the pregnant females preening in the sun, they’d cowered together in the wet marsh home. Males had to fetch leaves to cover Nala up. Bringing her back had been no easy charge. Idrus understood the unease.

“And then to bring on a cycle at will for no reason...” Sessel began.

“I know what you are asking, Sessel and there is no danger. Should I run out of life, simply allow another king’s selection.”

Sessel didn’t answer for some time. Finally, she said, “But what will become of me, Daga? If the king is not directly from your blood, I’ll be cast out. I am on my last cycle as well.”

Idrus took off his face plate when he said, “Then let us make the selection anew. Is that enough? It will secure your function.” He was sure to leave out his plan to select one of Nala’s offspring for king. His hearts thumped with pride at the prospect. But as the king’s selection was no easy feat, he’d have to find a way around the bloodshed to come.

Sessel gave off a faint nod. “I’m grateful. And you will send this strange Summoner on her way now that she is healed?”

For that, Idrus was slow to answer. “She can leave at any time. I doubt she should tarry long. I worried for her taking care of so many offspring alone. That is all.”

“Offspring?” Sessel asked. “Of what offspring do you speak, Daga?”

Idrus turned his head to focus on her fully. “What is the meaning of your words? What other offspring but the one I’ve given her? And it was not of her choosing so we must take care. I’ve put her in my bed of moss, to...to separate her from the others as her spikes haven’t come. With her body so narrow in this stage, perhaps she cannot give as many young.”

The quiet drove Idrus to sit up, his bulky body forcing Sessel back.

“Oh, Daga. What were you thinking? There are no offspring for a female Summoner with a severed tail!”

***

Moss hung before the wooden bark of the door. Idrus eyed it, enraged. “I ordered her not to be put here with the others.”

Holding a banan leaf above her head to stave off the rain, Sessel insisted, “No one put her there. She walked in by herself. Get her out, Daga. It is a disgrace to have her sniffing around dead bodies hunting for a welp like some sefer mutt!”

Idrus faced her, stunned. Such a terrible accusation would have gotten any other Leveler their jaw knocked off for a season, forced to walk around like that until the cycles came.

Sessel knew her power, and she stood defiant. No one would dare say this to the king but her. But her words towards Nala were still unforgivable.

That wasn’t Nala’s intent. She wasn’t sifting through the throwaways for something to salvage. She...perhaps she got lost. But as Idrus turned to face the door once more, his hearts faltered.

Leveler after leveler gathered. As most females had already given birth and cared for the young, the females who stood by now were the ones with a complaint of some kind.

“Back into the roost,” Sessel hissed. “There are more than enough for everyone. Do not be so proud!”

One by one, Leveler females obeyed and left. The males lingered. Idrus wanted to command their departure as well but could find no fury to make it sound less like cowardice. This was Idrus’s doing. He should have put Nala here in the rook. If he had, Nala could have mixed with the other females. As the births happened at night and came with a maddening fever, it wasn’t uncommon for barren females to mix in and pretend to have given birth as well. The numbers were so high that there was no way to keep track of whose was whose.

But Idrus wanted Nala’s...separate. So now everyone knew. And she was...in the rook. Doing what?

“I will go, Daga, if you will not.”

“No. This is my responsibility.” Sans a faceplate, Idrus reached up to tug at the hole in the bark, making the door give way. Once he stepped in, all was pitch-black at first. Little by little, an amber glow came into view. The pool below was quiet save for a gentle rustle.

Nala.

The sight of her forced Idrus to stop in his stride. The rook was a controlled space. Sauder spiders consumed everything left behind within a day, keeping it pristine.

What Idrus saw of Nala stole his power of speech.

Crouched down, the Summoner watched the shallow breaths of small white body. In time it stopped moving. The sound Nala made wasn’t one Levelers were familiar with.

Idrus, sure she’d noticed him, waited. Every part of him begged the Summoner to stand and claim the child. He would play along. He prepared his lie. Better to have a weak brood than none at all.

Ah, Summoner, we will have another. That was what he would say.

But Nala spoke not a word. Instead, still crouched, she crossed her arm like a pitiful Earther and remained perfectly still.

This strange behavior carried on for some time. Whenever Idrus thought to approach, Nala posture frightened him into keeping his distance. She looked helpless, nothing like the bold Summoner who’d slapped him upon their first meeting.

A time or two, Idrus found himself scanning the moss for any signs of a throwaway who might live long enough to bring Nala some peace. There was nothing. Only remnants of what might have been.

It took everything in Idrus to stomp his feet and march toward her finally.

“Summoner!”

Flinching, Nala turned her face away.

“What have you got there?” Idrus demanded.

Nala stood. She seemed intent on running, but there was no exit to this cave. The way she trembled prompted Idrus to scoop her up.

“Do not cry over your young,” Idrus soothed. We’ll have more. Why couldn’t he say it? He willed himself but the words failed him.

What was this strange behavior, even from himself? Because while Nala looked sorrowful, Idrus felt it. This disappointment was new. That emotion only came when a hunt wasn’t as fruitful as he’d anticipated. But not in this—never in this. Not until now. His body ached from the dryness. He almost cried like a Earther. A Leveler’s body dried when filled with despair. Nala’s flaked, it was so dehydrated now.

“It was a waste,” the Summoner whispered. “I was a waste.”

Idrus opened and closed his mouth more times than he could count. He should have said something, but it wasn’t a Leveler habit. Still, he thought to try.

The moment she wrapped her arms around his neck despite the spikes and pulled him tighter, was the moment he could accept this as well. Idrus scanned the rook one final time, more than certain Nala would have no need to ever step foot into it again.

With the pitiful Summoner in his arms, Idrus marched up the stone steps, hating the Earth-man more now than ever.