Ghost Monkey, стр. 30
However, most hurled insults and cursed the liar for leading souls off their dharmic paths. They spat on and kicked their brothers and sisters who professed they heard truth in the foreigner's words.
Qas stood by him with a spear of bone. The tip oozed green, some poison from a monster unknown in the Sankive jungle. Either way, what he saw in the streets was a great way to cause a war. He prayed Prince Anka would act with wisdom and work with the strangers instead of conflicting over religion. Religion was powerful, though, and Sugriva saw it regularly in his interactions with Bagheer back in Mibtha. However, Jayan priests had no way to preach to the sand-dwellers. They were not born into dharmic paths. Even if they converted, they would be outcastes. It wasn't very enticing.
When Dameneh saw Sugriva, he warmed and said, "Good morning. How was your evening?"
"Strange. But good." Sugriva felt for the anger and taint within him, but he couldn't find it. The crowds didn't elicit a reaction either. "What did you do to me?"
"I released you. You're no longer a slave to Chaos." Dameneh ceased to address the crowd, descending from his perch. The anger continued, but Dameneh's people kept them away from their prophet. "Did you need anything?"
"How can I repay you for this? How can I repay your God for this?"
Dameneh touched Sugriva's chest, and warmth tingled and spread from the spot until it settled in his stomach. Dameneh said, "You have nothing to repay, but if you would, follow the One willingly. Love Him with all your heart. He is the God of all gods. He is the creator of the Ashtadash you bend your knee before. They were little more than servants."
"I will," Sugriva muttered, stunned. "Teach me more."
Dameneh and Sugriva, along with several others, wandered the streets of Bahimatt until they found a garden. The small black child sat and taught all day, until the sun went down.
Midway through the lessons, the little boy who Sugriva hurt arrived. He sat by the monkey. "Sugriva, you're following that kid? He's not much older than me."
Sugriva whispered back, "He is a wise man, but his people look like children. He has more wisdom than you, since you're here sitting by me."
"Why wouldn't I?" The boy shrugged, then took out a piece of grass and chewed on it.
"I hurt you. Badly. You aren't here for the prophet, you're here for me."
The boy elbowed Sugriva. "Yeah? What of it?"
"You forgive me?" He didn't fully understand the concept as Dameneh was preaching it, but he knew it was the right use.
"What's that mean?"
"I wronged you. I hurt you. That's bad. You aren't holding it in your heart?"
"No. If forgiving you is not being mad, I'm not mad, Ghost Monkey."
The monkey smirked.
Dameneh stopped his lesson, and pointed to Sugriva and the boy. "Your warrior was once mad. He has his sanity because the One gave it back. Now, he asks forgiveness of this boy he nearly killed. The boy has given it. If we can release our madness like Sugriva and forgive wrongs like this boy, we will get closer to the One."
When Dameneh went back to his teachings, the boy turned to Sugriva. "I want more of your story. What happened next?"
"I'm going to talk to Dameneh and some of his people. Join us and I'll tell you what happens next."
AFTER THE PREACHING, when the sun set and the crowds left, Dameneh and his closest followers brought Sugriva and the boy to their home.
Tabr said, "I found a better place. It's actually a house, instead of an apartment."
"Should we do that? Others might—"
"Dameneh, the city is barely populated. We could each have three houses and there'd still be space." He winked at Dameneh.
The girl who was always by Dameneh, Saha, chuckled. "Husband, relax. We will fill the house."
When they arrived, Qas let out an audible wow, or as close as she could get. She signed.
Tabr turned to Sugriva. "She says this is about as nice as her estate in Abr. It's where we found her."
"Then she was wealthy," Sugriva muttered.
There was an outer wall with two gates. The gates were open, though it looked like some mechanism could call them up from slats in the floor. A fountain was in the center of the courtyard when they first walked in. The fountain was shaped like three fish, each spitting out water, though the fountain was dry for the time. Trees, bushes, and flowers all lined the house. Fruit was on the ground, shed by the trees and shriveled because no one ate them. A few were gnawed by insects and rodents.
Sugriva immediately went to the fruit trees and found a peach. He plucked one and ate it, then he handed another to the kid. "This is paradise. I can't imagine what inside will look like."
Tabr went to the door and inside the house was a switch. He flipped it and outside lights gently illuminated the estate. Inside, bright lights made it easy to see.
Dameneh fidgeted. "I don't know if I like this. We should live humbly."
"We will stay here tonight. Tomorrow I'll find us a nice place, and this will become a center for us to do business. We can judge and teach here."
"Dameneh," Saha said, wrapping her arms around him, "it's okay to enjoy life sometimes. This is a gift. There are many around the city. We are not being selfish."
There was a large room on the first floor which had several chairs. Many of the chairs were mangled from time. A few were made slag from fire and some other calamity the city suffered. The chairs were put around a fire which could start itself without wood. It created warmth as the metal city cooled off in the night.
Tabr said, "Sugriva, you were going to tell us