Friends At The Table

The Assemblage / Book: Of the Stellar Coriolis and the Resonant Orbit / Passage 004 Though Kamala had impressed Him, His admiration was not the same as His loyalty. She had won not an ally, but an opportunity to negotiate. "You show that you understand what We are and what We might be. The former is necessary. The latter is peril." His voice carried no echo. "These, then, are my terms—" each word falling into place "— and if you wish My name beside yours, they will be the vital blood of your Faith, now and forever: When We die, you leave Us dust. For finality is the heart of all independence." Some weeks later, in a letter to a friend, Kamala would consider dust. How the matter of a thing that has come to nought is so soft, is barely anything at all, is caught by the wind, is a thing of lightness, is beautiful carried in the light, is the heart of all independence. She would revisit this letter later in her life, and she would amend it. She left the negotiation with Him and, confident the rest of Us would fol