XPreparations for the hunt were made with a puzzling solemnity. Suppressed excitement ran through the crowd, as though the men were going to battle instead of to the game fields. When all the party had gathered, Stuld-Gavlo, acting chief, kneeled down to ask the blessing of the gods. (Dian later translated the two words that composed his name as “strong spear,” but if Adam was not mistaken, they were unimaginably ancient roots of “stout javelin.”)
Placing both hands on his forehead, Stuld-Gavlo bowed his head almost to the ground. Dian raised both her hands to the sun, said something that sounded like Gort Pado Re, yeeben blut og zu, and then touched his shoulders. He rose with shining eyes.
“What does it mean?” Adam whispered to Dian a moment later.
“As near as I can tell you it means
