#curain

"Hey," Ausse said. "I just wanted to say goodbye to you before I head out."

"You're leaving?" Daanah said. "Like- For good?"

"This was always going to be a temporary alliance," Ausse said. "We no longer have a common cause."

"Oh."

"Aren't you going home, anyway?" Ausse said.

"For my coming of age," Daanah said. "I… I'd hoped you were coming."

"Well." Ausse leaned against the doorframe. "Do you want me to be there?"

Daanah shrugged listlessly. She really did, but she didn't want to come across as needy, or embarrass herself if Ausse didn't want to come.

"You're from Kulainestainer, right?" Ausse said.

"Yeah." Daanah pulled on one of her locs. "It's later this cycle. The thirty-third of Seshasai."

She had told Miwaanii-Shémelús she expected him to be there. Kéchawaedrii-Orl would probably be there too even though she hadn't asked hir and would honestly, given Miwaanii-Shémelús's recent revelations, rather ze not come. All of her friends and family. Her neighbours. Everyone was going to be there.

Except Fiyavu Ozast.

"Well, you know," said Ausse. "I might happen to be in the area then."

"Okay."

"Can't believe you haven't even been of age this whole time," Ausse said.

Daanah shrugged. "I'm fifteen. My birthday is just a lot earlier. I actually turned fifteen ages ago, but in Kulainestainer we don't have the coming-of-age until almost the end of the year."

"Are there a lot of you this year?"

"About a dozen," Daanah said. "It's never very many. Kulainestainer's not very big."

"You Dalahe tend to have pretty small communities, don't you?" Ausse said. "Not like us." Ausse was Schwany Norve, like most of Sautgurotays.

Daanah nodded.

"Is my Dalac good enough?" Ausse said.

"There are a lot of cognates," said Daanah, who had been mostly speaking Dalac this whole time and had only realized several tensegs into their trip that Kéchawaedrii-Orl and Miwaanii-Shémelús were actually speaking Schwany and not just Dalac with a strong accent and occasional regional slang. She couldn't read Schwany fluently, but apparently she could understand it when spoken pretty well, and it seemed to go the other way too. "You'll be fine. I don't speak much Schwany."

Ausse raised her eyebrows. "Alright, then. I'll see you."

This would be Daanah's first time actually getting her hair cut more than a trim to keep it healthy. Her hair was a different texture than most other Norves, so Saafeera always took her to the Gathiya Na Theenan hair salon in the city. They'd had a consultation the other day about what Daanah wanted.

"It will take a while," Ghiyafee, the hairdresser who always did Daanah's, had said. "You have a lot of hair. I'll be gentle, but the combing will probably hurt your scalp somewhat."

So Daanah had brought the mystery she was reading and a second book in case she finished the first. She wasn't really one for chatting. Saafeera and Ghiyafee always talked while Daanah got her hair done.

"You said you want it short like your mama's?" Ghiyafee said.

Daanah nodded. She had the urge to pull at her hair. Dalahe Norves usually got their long childhood hair cut very short for their comings-of-age. It was symbolic of the transition into a new phase of life.

"How has the picking been lately?" Ghiyafee asked.

Daanah shrugged. "Reyal helps."

"Good, good." Ghiyafee pulled one of Daanah's long locs over her shoulder so she could see it in the mirror and pinched her fingers around it just above the height of her glasses. "I'm going to cut it here to begin with so there will be space to fine-tune the ends once it's all picked out."

Daanah nodded again and reminded herself that this was a good change.

Saafeera smiled at her encouragingly.

"This is my first real haircut," Daanah said quietly. "Like… ever."

"It's her coming-of-age soon," Saafeera said.

"That's certainly exciting," Ghiyafee said.

Daanah swallowed. "Yeah."

"You nervous?"

"…Yeah," she said. "A little."

In the mirror, Ghiyafee nodded. "Well, if I have anything to do with it, your hair will look perfect for it."

Ghiyafee had been right about the tugging hurting her scalp. She gritted her teeth and read as Ghiyafee cut- the change in weight as the locs fell to the ground one by one was disconcerting- and then combed and talked with Saafeera.

She had been right about it taking a while, too. Saafeera left and came back with lunch at one point and they took a break. Daanah nearly finished her book. She did her best not to look up, not wanting to see it until it was done.

She had worried about how expensive all that work would be, but Saafeera had told her that her coming-of-age was one of the most important days of her life and she wasn't going to let Daanah have anything less than what she wanted for it and that it was her aunt Chaariya's gift too.

Ghiyafee was especially careful working in the conditioner afterwards; she knew how sensitive Daanah's scalp always was. "You'll want to be gentle with it for a little while. It's fragile now; don't try to braid anything in. Let it rest."

Daanah made an affirmative noise.

"Alright," Ghiyafee said excitedly. "Take a look."

Daanah cautiously looked up at the mirror. "Oh!"

"Do you like it?"

Daanah touched her short, tight curls, careful not to let herself pull. "I… had forgotten what my hair looks like loose."

"It looks beautiful," Saafeera said.

"I think so," said Daanah. She mostly felt overwhelmed. It was very different and would take a bit of time for her to get used to, but she was sure she would like it a lot once she did.

The evening before Daanah's coming of age, Ailít tapped her on the shoulder and signed "I have something for you."

She pulled Daanah into her and Fiya's section of the starhouse. Fiya lay asleep in the middle of the bed, the baby monitor next to em paired with the vibrating one Ailít wore on a string around her neck.

Daanah looked at the lack of barriers around em anxiously.

"Ey doesn't roll yet, and your mum says it will be a good while before ey does, so I'm not worried about looking away for a couple minutes," Ailít signed. "I wouldn't do anything that wasn't safe."

Daanah nodded.

Ailít turned away for a moment to open her jewellery box while Daanah watched Fiya's tiny chest rise and fall.

Ailít put a handful of metal revaap pins with little beaded flowers on the ends into Daanah's hands. "These belonged to Fiyavu Ozast," she signed. "I want you to have them. I know Rovian wears her revaap more, but they're not really her style, and I thought you would like them for your coming-of-age."

Daanah burst into tears.

All of Kulainestainer was here- and then some.

"This is exciting for you," said Talí, sounding semi-confident.

Daanah nodded. "Yes." She fiddled with one of the pins Ailít had given her and added, "I wish Fiyavu Ozast were here."

Talí held her hand in an attempt at comfort that Daanah appreciated.

She spotted Miwaanii-Shémelús at the edge of the village square, looking very lost, so she pulled Talí in that direction, away from her cluster of friends and family. "I want to introduce you."

"Miwaanii-Shémelús, this is my best friend Talí," said Daanah. "Talí, Miwaanii-Shémelús."

She didn't try to define her relationship with Miwaanii-Shémelús for other people anymore. She could barely define it for herself. He mattered to her, and that was enough.

Talí's eyes landed on Miwaanii-Shémelús's pair of ribbon-wrapped braids and they started speaking to him in Kelétsowif.

Miwaanii-Shémelús's whole body perked up as (to Daanah's limited understanding) he asked if they were Se-Naskan and they responded in the affirmative.

Ausse found her then, nowhere to be seen one moment and beside her the next, shadowed by Ptoled and Ffeira.

"You made it," Daanah said. She hadn't been sure they would.

"We were in the area."

Kéchawaedrii-Orl was here.

Daanah was not able to stop her displeasure showing on her face.

"I would like to officiate your coming-of-age," ze said.

"No," Daanah said.

Kéchawaedrii-Orl raised hir eyebrows.

"I've known Curain my whole life," Daanah said. Ze was Kulainestainer's senior priest- though Kéchawaedrii-Orl might not know hir name; Daanah's estimation of hir respect for other people had plummeted drastically and she no longer assumed ze would. "I want to do it like everyone else. This is how we do it. If you've ever respected me as a person-" She knew ze hadn't- "and if you want me to keep working with you, you won't interfere."

"You sound very defensive," said Kéchawaedrii-Orl.

"I want Curain to do it," said Daanah flatly.

The thirteen of them were lined up based on birthday order, which meant Daanah was fourth.

A very small stage had been erected in the village square, about a foot off the ground- a ramp, then space for the senior priest and one other person to stand comfortably, then a ramp back down, and that was it. Daanah had been on a lot of stages recently, but this was the one she had always anticipated. This was, in some ways, the most important one.

She winced slightly as she accidentally ripped a hair out of her arm. Reyal was with her family, but maybe Daanah should have kept her with her to help her stay calm. She didn't want to freeze.

"Your turn, Daanah," the girl behind her whispered, and Daanah almost panicked at the realization that she had lost touch with the now.

Butterfly wings on her bare arms, butterfly wings uncomfortable under her clothes.

She stepped forward.

"Child of Maidallis Leykin and Saafeera Riwazee," Curain said. "What is your name now?"

Daanah tried to speak and failed. She swallowed and tried again. "Daanah Chaariya Addeyn Leykin Riwazee."

She heard Saafeera cheer, and blushed with equal parts embarrassment and pride.

"What gender do you want to live as, Daanah Chaariya Addeyn Leykin Riwazee?"

Curain hadn't approved of her initially, but ze had become a strong ally with time, never tolerating anyone being disrespectful. Everyone in Kulainestainer was pretty much used to it by now, even the most traditional of them. No one who came to their village to see the Scribe of the South got very far if they didn't treat her right.

"I'm a woman," Daanah said. The butterfly wings split into a different shape, belying her anxiety. She reassured herself that even if some people had probably expected her to just grow out of it, no one here would disrupt the ceremony over it.

Curain informed her of her rights and responsibilities as a Dalahe Norve adult.

"When you are next upon the ground," ze said, "you will be an adult of our community."

Daanah nodded.

She steadied herself and stepped into her future.

Masterpost Chapter 70 Epilogue: Jue Epilogue: Halek Epilogue: Zhe'ārani

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