Shen woke to find himself on a stone table. The room had a cave like feel to it, lit by a fire place and orange candles. The smell of oranges filled the room, reminding him of Loxy. The memory of his first kiss with her, the taste of orange prominent on her lip, the smell of it on her breath, brought tears of longing to his eyes. He sat up.

An elderly woman, Japanese in appearance looked up from her writing. It was clear she was also eating something while she worked. She finished chewing, wiped her hands on a cloth, and became attentive to him

“Ah, finally awake,” N’Ma said. “Lanore must have been extremely cross to ‘sleep’ you so hard.”

“N’Ma,” Jon said, bringing his hands up in the appropriate gesture.

“You remember me?” N’Ma said.

Shen nodded.

“Take your clothes off. I am going to examine you,” N’Ma said.

“Excuse me?” Jon asked.

“You said you remember me. I am a Shamanka,” N’Ma said.

“A Shaman?”

“Do I look male to you?” N’Ma said, amused. “Clothes off. Lay on the stone.”

N’Ma turned back to her writing, completing her thoughts. She then sprayed the page with a perfume bottle, perhaps to prevent pencil smudges. It was a simple enough pump, but it seemed more sophisticated than the tech Shen had seen at Easterly. The glass work was sophisticated. The top had some sort of metal alloy, most likely gold. There were copper artifacts on her desk. Jewelry. A pendent with a crystal in it, hanging on a marble bust. It had a Trek like feel, something he had seen before but couldn’t place. N’Ma tracked his focus.

“It’s from Sinter,” N’Ma said. “A gift from a friend.”

N’Ma got up and came over. She didn’t ask to touch him. She touched him at specific places on his body that corresponded to Shen’s knowledge of esoteric energy points, Chakras. She touched 21 points. A hand on his shoulder while she straightened the arm and manipulated through points of articulation. She poked the underarm and he glared at her. She thumped his abdomen, listened to his heart, smelled his breath, and had him sit up and tested reflexes with a small mallet. And then she kissed him. It was a tongue kiss. He brought his hands up to push her away- but she blocked, held his head against hers with the other hand. She gained the information she wanted and backed away.

“Why are you so afraid?” N’Ma asked.

“That is inappropriate,” Shen said, sitting up.

“I can’t gauge your health by heart alone. I need all the intel. Smell, sound, taste…” N’Ma noticed a reaction and was suddenly amused. “You’re experiencing puberty? You think I was soliciting a gift?”

Shen blushed. “That’s a normal physiological reaction…”

N’Ma went and wrote down the word. “Lanore said you had a funny language. It seems to have meaning. Define physiological.”

“Physiology, related to the body, or physicality. I have a penis. All sorts of things could result in erection. Elimination. Touch. Memory. Touch triggering memories…” He wanted to say stress, and fear, but he didn’t want to give her more ammo.

“What sort of memories would an eight year old have of such?” N’Ma asked. “I know the boys and men play this game in the barracks, but my understanding is you refuse to sleep in the barracks.”

“What happens in the barracks is inappropriate,” Shen said.

“Boys will be boys,” N’Ma said.

“Fuck that,” Shen said.

“Proving my point,” N’Ma said. “If you’re old enough to get hard, you’re old enough to be tooled.”

“That is so wrong. What if I had said, if you’re old enough to bleed- you’re old enough to breed.”

words. She wrote it

“No! Physically capable doesn’t equate

with that assessment, but we have to

a person says, I am

laughed. “Boys would never leave their mothers if we waited for that,” she said. “You know that gifts results in babies. If

not fear. It is boundary declaration, only you people don’t hear and respect that because my boundaries are different than yours. No one should be forced or coerced to engage in activities they

As a Shamanka, I am privy to the male path. You will play, or you will

“You need a new way,” Shen said. “If a male

“They would die,”

don’t you protect children the way you

then handed over to the men where you learn to be a

the safety of the group? How many people chose that? And is it a choice? A boy gets awaken at night by an

Are you asexual? Do you

want to have a choice in what happens

do! Gift or fight. You’re clearly a

and got dressed. He

the fear in

not fear. I am

“There are only two emotions, child. Love or

one of

“Explain this?”

all negative emotions are derivatives of fear,” Shen said. “It makes me think of Yoda. ‘Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to

this down. “What is a

answer. N’Ma finished writing.

“Well?”

a question, will you

always endeavor

lie. Don’t sugar coat things,” Shen

N’Ma nodded. “Ask.”

your assessment of me?”

said. “Probably due to the color abnormality, insufficient pigment, maybe an imbalance of essential aspects. The malady

for telling you to walk into the path of a train,” Shen snapped. N’Ma put a

would living with the males be harmful? That’s your life. You’re not female,” N’Ma said. “Even if you go third gender, it doesn’t get you female accommodations, but my understanding of third gender means you would prefer the company of males to females. You’re not bringing life into the world. You don’t get to

get it, you hate

our men,” N’Ma said. “They have their ways, we have ours. That’s it. We come together on the boundaries, but we have our separate

want a different way,”

child. It will kill you. We would not be

“I want a

“Okay,” N’Ma said.

“Really?” Shen said. He was

eat our food, but you will sleep outside. You will receive food when

“This is an

Traveling alone is permissible under the law,” G’Ma said. “Two men traveling is suspicious. Three men traveling together is punishable. I am not doing you a favor here. This path is hard. It is lonely. You will likely incur more acts of violence against your person by taking this path. Most men will see you as enemy. Someone who opposes civility. You will be ridiculed. You will be

fight, or

is the way of it,” N’Ma

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