“But we are eating this deer, certainly it is not murgu?”

“The deer, greatdeer as well, were all captured and bred here. But in the distant land where those-we-killed came from there are only murgu.”

Sanone chewed on this thought—along with another piece of liver. “I do not like to think of a land where only murgu walk. But this place across the ocean that you speak of is certainly part of the world that Kadair made when he stamped his feet and burst the rock asunder. From the rock he brought forth all we see and all we know, brought forth the deer and the mastodon—and the murgu. There is a reason for all this. There is a reason why we came to this place and another reason why this place is here. We must consider all these things until they can be understood.”

All of the world beyond the world became of great importance when Sanone spoke as a mandukto. Kerrick had more practical things to consider. The males in the hanalè would have to be fed. And then what would he do with them? Why was he burdening himself with their existence? If he did not intervene they could die quickly enough—there would be no shortage of volunteers for that work. He was sorry for the stupid creatures, but he felt that there must be other reasons than that to keep them alive. He would puzzle over this later. Now they must be fed. Not cooked meat; they would be terrorized by the smell of the smoke. He cut some pieces of flesh from the uncooked forequarters of the deer, then pushed his way through the broken door of the hanalè. The corpses were still there—and beginning to stink. They would have to be removed before dark. As he came to the unburned section he heard singing, though the sounds alone meant nothing by themselves. He stood, unnoticed in the entrance to the chamber and listened while Imehei sang in his hoarse male way. The darkness of the song reminded Kerrick at once of that distant day when Esetta< had sung after the death of Alipol.

“They walk free,

we are shut away.

They bask in the sun,

we look at the dim light.

They send us to the beaches,

Never go themselves . . .”

Imehei broke off when he saw Kerrick—then flashed joy-of-food with juvenile palm colors when he saw the meat that Kerrick was carrying. They both ate greedily, their powerful jaws and sharp, cone-shaped teeth quickly dispatching the meal.

“Did you know Esetta<?” Kerrick asked.

“Brother-in-here,” Imehei quickly said, but with more interest he added, “Meat-to-come, interrogative?”

Kerrick signed negative, later time, then asked, “There was another male here, Alipol, did you know him as well? He was my . . . friend.”

“Imehei has but recently arrived from Entoban*” Nadaskè said. “Not I. I was here when Alipol was first in the hanalè, before he went to the beach.”