"Don’t," Willa said with a shudder. "How can you even stand to look?"
Jeren grinned at her and jumped up to the waist-high balcony rail to balance on it like a cat. Willa shrieked and clapped her hands over her eyes. Kite looked concerned. Kendi swallowed.
"Jeren," Kendi said hesitantly. "Maybe you shouldn’t-"
"Hey, it’s easy," Jeren said. He strolled casually up and down the rail, then paused to look down. White mist buried the ground below.
"Don’thinkyoush-"
"Whoa!" Jeren frantically windmilled his arms. Willa, who had been peeking between her fingers, screamed. Kendi lunged for Jeren, but he regained his balance with an easy grin. "Gotcha!" he laughed. Kendi scowled and suppressed an urge to punch him.
"That earns you demerits, guy," said a new voice.
They all turned to look. A young woman was striding toward them. She had curly black hair and emerald eyes set into a sharp, pixie-like face. Her movements were quick and darting as a hummingbird’s. A simple gold medallion hung around her neck. She looked to be in her mid-twenties.
"Hey, Sis," Jeren said. "Am I in trouble then?"
"I’m not a Sister yet, bucko," the woman replied. "I’m a second-year student and I’ve been assigned as your mentor. My name’s Dorna Saline. Jeren, come down from there before I beat your ass."
With a flourish, Jeren jumped to the balcony floor. Willa lowered her hands.
"If you want to play with heights, Jeren, use one of those," she said, and pointed to two ropes that ended in knots big enough to sit on. The other ends were tied to branches higher up. They were clearly designed to swing out beyond the balcony, and Kendi wondered who would be brave enough-or stupid enough-to swing on such a thing. As if reading his thoughts, Dorna added, "There’s a net below to catch you if you fall, Kendi. You just can’t see it for the mist, yeah?"
"Howdyknowournames?" Kite asked.
"Mother Ara described you," Dorna said. "Kite, right? And you’re Willa and you’re Kendi. Welcome to the Children of Irfan. You probably want breakfast, yeah?"
They all assented, and Dorna took them to the end of the balcony and down a set of stairs to a wooden walkway that lead around to the front of the dormitory. Kendi looked up at it, fascinated. He hadn’t been able to see much last night. The building was enormous, fully five stories high, and it was the only building in the entire tree. The trunk ran up the middle of the building, and several branches supported it as well. Other branches framed it in fine green leaves. The dorm itself was built of warm brown wood and covered with ivy. Balconies jutted out everywhere, connected by ladders, staircases, and even sliding poles. Ropes dangled from a fair number of windows. Fresh morning dew coated every surface. The double doors in front opened onto a wide deck big enough to play rugby on. Kendi looked over the edge. An ocean of white mist obscured the forest floor below. He decided the entire place was beautiful, more homelike than anyplace he had ever lived. His mother would love it, and he wished with all his heart that he could show it to his entire family.
One day, he told himself firmly.
Dorna lead them through the main doors, waved to the sleepy desk clerk on duty in the high-ceilinged foyer, and herded them into a cafeteria. A food buffet took up one wall and the room was filled with long tables furnished with wooden chairs.
"You can get food at any hour, day or night," Dorna told them, "but there’s a schedule for hot food. It’s pretty good slop, right? We’re too soon for hot breakfast, but I know that ex-slaves are always up early, so I though I’d bring you down."
Ex-slaves, Kendi thought. I’m an ex-slave.
After a breakfast of cold cereal, rolls, and juice, Dorna shepherded them back outside for a tour of the monastery.
"It’s kind of confusing at first," she said as they headed out, "real easy to lose your way, yeah?"
A few minutes later, Kendi indeed found himself thoroughly lost. Because the monastery-and everything else-was constructed in the top of a giant forest, there was no way to make a regular grid of streets. Walkways and staircases made of planks and ivy-draped wire ran in many different directions on a dozen different levels. The buildings varied in size from small cottages to multi-story edifices like the student dormitory, but they were all made of wood and were of similar design, making it hard to tell them apart. Some were living quarters, some were academic buildings for teaching and research, and some were business offices. Dorna pointed out the places where they’d be taking their classes, and Kendi hoped he could get his hands on a map so he could find them again.
The group walked slowly, chatting and pointing out things of interest. Dorna seemed to take a big-sisterly approach to the proceedings as she guided them unhurriedly along, allowing them to take in what sights they liked.
The sun, now well above the horizon, had burned off most of the mist below. Kendi quickly learned to ignore the sight of the stomach-wrenching drop that lay in wait everywhere. The air was sweet, warm, and clean, and birds mingled with small gliding lizards among the leaves, both filling the morning with song. As the morning grew old, people began to appear on the walkways and in the metal gondolas that coasted by on a system of wires and electric pulleys. Many, though not all, wore loose brown clothes and the simple gold medallion that marked them as Children of Irfan.
"Are all the Children Silent?" Willa asked at one point.
Dorna nodded, her dark curls bobbing. "Gotta be. But the monastery also employs plenty of non-Silent, both here and in the field."
"Do we have to wear brown like that?" Jeren said. "It’s kind of dull, you know?"
"You can wear whatever you want, guy," Dorna replied indifferently. "Most of the Children and the students wear brown shirts or robes so everyone knows they’re Silent, right? But you don’t have to. You gotta to wear the medallion, though."
"What are those for?" Kendi asked. "I was wondering."
Dorna went down a staircase backward like a tour guide facing her charges. "The medallion says you’re under Irfan’s protection and a member of the order. Only the Children and their students are allowed to wear them."
The walkways swayed under their steps. The movement didn’t bother Kendi, though Willa was looking a trifle green. He glanced ahead of them and caught his breath. Coming up behind Dorna, who still walked backward, was a creature the size of a small horse. Blond fur covered a stocky body and four legs that ended in heavily-clawed feet. A thick, sinuous neck rose from the shoulders between a pair of muscular arms that ended in four-fingered hands. The creature’s head was flat, with wide-set, bulgy eyes and a flat mouth filled with shovel-like teeth. There was a hole on the creature’s forehead just above the eyes. Its forelegs were thicker and sturdier than its shorter hind legs, which gave a downward slant to the creature’s back. Kendi stared in spite of himself, as did the others. Dorna noticed and turned to see what was going on.
"Father Ched-Hisak!" she said, and pressed her fingertips to her forehead in a gesture Kendi didn’t recognize. "You’re up early today, yeah?"
The creature made a chattering noise by rattling its lower jaw against the upper. It also made hooting sounds through the hole in its forehead.
"I’m showing around a new group of students," Dorna told him. "They just arrived last night. This is Jeren, Willa, Kite, and Kendi." Again she pressed fingertips to forehead, this time pointedly, until Kendi and the others got the hint and duplicated the gesture. Kendi couldn’t help but stare. For all his bulky build, Ched-Hisak moved with a languid grace he found compelling. Even Jeren seemed awed.
Father Ched-Hisak made more chattering and hooting noises. Kendi noticed he wore a gold medallion around his neck and a jade ring on one thick finger.