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markings of any Vox Jalila had yet seen. As Folcrum introduced them, Jalila found it impossible to look away from the ornate tracery that decorated their fur coats.
    Typically, Vox sported the painted designs on their scalps, backs, and abdomens, but Oric and Giza were covered in them. Every conceivable shape appeared on their bodies, covering every inch of fur, creating an impression at first of great chaos and then of great artistry the longer Jalila looked.
    Oric was the first to step forward and offer his hand. " Welcome . Thank you for coming. " Swirls and stars and intersecting rays were painted in silver on the black fur of his chest. Intricate characters ran along his arms and legs, etched in multiple delicate brush strokes. Interlocking diamonds and loops encircled his waist in a chain, and a beautifully detailed burst like a bouquet of flowers bloomed in gold and turquoise on his belly.
    Giza stepped forward next, his bright blonde fur a sharp contrast to Oric's dark coat. Deep red whorls and curlicues twined around his head and down his throat like interlaced vines. Dark green characters scrolled in double diagonal streams from his left shoulder to his right hip. His arms were crosshatched in violet on one side, stippled in umber and aqua on the other. A blossom of overlaid figure eights graced his every joint, from his elbows and knees to the knuckles on his hands.
    " I am honored to meet you ." Giza bowed, then gestured toward a simple stone bench. " Have a seat if you like. "
    As soon as Jalila sat down, one of the furry butterfly creatures fluttered into the gazebo and lighted on her knee. She jerked involuntarily, but the beautiful lifeform remained in place, its luminescent wings slowly fanning.
    " It won ' t hurt you ," said Folcrum. " It ' s a kava. It ' s good luck. "
    The creature was much larger than butterflies back home, and its wings were as big as Jalila's hands, but it seemed to weigh nothing at all. As it looked up at her with frosted, prismatic eyes, a yellow tongue zipped out and flickered in the air.
    Jalila couldn't take her eyes off the kava , partly because it was so lovely and strange and partly because she wasn't sure what it would do next. Giza might have realized this, because he came over and gently lifted the creature from her knee, then placed it on his shoulder.
    " I could use some luck too , if you don ' t mind ," he said, and then he made a sound like a chuckle. " We all could. Maybe we better pass this around. "
    As Giza slowly returned to his seat, Oric coughed loudly. Both of them had a touch of unsteadiness in their movements, as if they were very old...older than Folcrum, certainly, or at least not in good health.
    " Jalila ," said Oric. " I wish we could hear your voice. Unfortunately , silencing voices is one thing our leaders do well. "
    Jalila winced. For a while, she had been distracted and hadn't paid much attention to the gag...but at the mention of her condition, she realized how much it still hurt.
    " I want you to meet someone ." Oric nodded at Folcrum, who got up and left the gazebo. A moment later, he returned with a female Vox in tow...copper-furred and scrawny, carrying a garden hoe.
    Apparently, she was one of the many Vox tending the Garden of Yesterday...but that was of secondary interest to Jalila. Her attention was immediately drawn to the Vox's mouth...specifically, what was covering it.
    It was the same kind of gag that was locked in place over Jalila's own lips.
    " This is Yama ," said Oric. " Six years ago , the Vox spoken language underwent a major revision. It was decided that the revision was too extensive for the existing Lexicons to be reed ucated.
    " So they were silenced . Yama and many like her. " Rising from his stone bench, Oric went to Yama and took her hand in his. " She hasn ' t spoken a word in six years. She has only been able to eat by inhaling a nutrient-rich mist.
    " Some of us escaped ," said Oric. " Like Giza , Folcrum , and myself. But