"As I said, it was long ago that we were so severely divided. The tribes were unified under the Khala and each became a functioning aspect of a greater society. Ideally, they should have been abolished entirely, but we are a people loathe to change." And some things never changed. They were dangerously close to sliding back into that violent tribalism again, even with the Khala. Nothing was ever easy, not for anyone.

Gai certainly asked a lot of questions, but he was a quick learner at least. "It is possible to live without the Khala, as I do, but it is not an easy transition for those who are used to it, and rely on it. The humans I have known are quite adaptable, and you must be very much the same."