"It's sort of like exchanging certain pins," Tisarwat offered helpfully when the confused curiosity remained on Basnaaid's face. "In fact, rings are usually involved, too, aren't they?"

"We have pins for loved ones, alive and dead," Basnaaid said, with a hand momentarily on the ones she wore, "so maybe the connection isn't that strange at all.

"Either way," they had approached a small building tangled up in the growth of the garden, and she gestured toward a bench, "please, have a seat. I'll be out with the tea in a moment."