She stumbled into a net of spider webs, disrupting the careful creations of hundreds of diligent spiders. These fled from her, some in their haste attempting to scamper across her. Paul's voice was low, soft, and it was filled with concern as he spoke one word.
"Hold."
Amazingly, somehow it seemed that his tone reached her when his word might not have. Ainea froze in the very act of raising her hands to brush the little arachnids away. The ensuing silence allowed the little mammals hanging around them to settle as well. For long moments his eyes, filled with compassion, held hers until all the creatures became still once more. Her frightened eyes locked fast on his in a wordless plea for release. At last, he spoke again, this time in a near-silent whisper, his words the merest breath of sound.
"As long as we be still, Beloved, they will not harm us. The spiders reside here to feed on those insects that escape from or cling to the bats. Those latter cleanse the air of the country about us of flies and mosquitoes, and return here to raise their young. Yet they will not harm us. They, like us, now are prisoners here until the water recedes. And we can do nothing with it until the same event, so let us bear their presence with good grace. If ye wish it, lie back and turn over, so that ye may see that they only huddle together, frightened of us more than are we of them."
She nodded ever so slightly and slowly lowered her hands to her knees. She did not lie back but rather leaned gracefully and with amazing suppleness toward him until her head rested in his hands. Then with the same fluid ease she twisted until her entire body flipped over in one smooth movement that in no wise Paul could have imitated. Now prone but with her head in his hands and facing upward, she watched.
At first the fear and revulsion of her initial reaction were evident in her expression. However, in a few minutes she realized that he had spoken truly. The spiders went about re-casting their webs, one being so bold as to drop down and attach a line of its silk to her bodice before scampering upward on it to begin its patient spinning. This brought a small smile, somewhat shaky, and she continued to watch.
Even as she set about making another support strand, Paul found a little sliver of bone that was larger than the others and used that to remove the spider's first cast. His movements were slow and cautious. When the bit of bone was lying beside her, the two watched in fascination as the little creature adjusted and continued its efforts. Meanwhile the warmth they shared from their closeness helped to control the shivers that came as the damp and cold tried its best to penetrate.
Meanwhile the bats quieted. In the silence, slow ripples of movement passed over the living blanket that huddled above and around them as one or another of the little animals changed its position slightly and those packed about it adjusted their own situations to compensate. When Ainea became satisfied that the spiders were not a threat, she turned her attention to the others. Slowly, wonder crossed her face as she watched them peer back at her in the faint light of the pearl. They moved not toward the invaders, and posed no threat ... or so it seemed at the moment. His voice came once more.
"See? Like us, they are afraid of what they do not understand. One of the towers, only one, at the Citadel has such a gathering. They live in the area under the roof, yet above a stone ceiling. It smells a bit ripe in the room below, but that is all right. It is used only as a watch tower. Generations of Kings have used it so and left the bats to do the same. Once each year someone goes up there to clean out the droppings, but they do their best not to disturb the colony. In return the little ones help keep our fair town clear of pests and vermin."
One of Ainea's hands, which had gripped his wrist in a convulsion of panic, gradually loosened as understanding dawned and her fear subsided. For a time more the Human pair lay still and watched. Suddenly there was a gurgle as of a giant cleansing its throat. A mighty giant it would have had to be, for this one's mouth would have been the entirety of the chamber that now was filled with water. Immediately, Paul hauled himself clear of the opening and past Ainea, reversing himself to thrust her toward the opening.
"Dive in! Then tread water and try to stay within the circle of stones below. I will follow right away!" As she hesitated, he pushed her ahead of him. "You must! Or we shall fall to our deaths!"
|