Haidar was a proud member of Anuyidan Danayi's royal family. Their family had a long and proud history, stretching back for centuries and generations. They upheld honor, their faith, and their traditions, and even Haidar, one of the most scholarly members of the royal family, could not say which of those was the most important. It all seemed important--it all seemed like it was part of the same thing, all twisted together like the threads that made up tassel and fringe, like woven cloth. None of those things could be separated from each other without destroying the whole. They upheld their honor through keeping the laws, doing what was right, and by keeping their word; their faith they upheld through obeisance to Allah and submission to His law and His word; their tradition they upheld in many ways. There were ways to talk, ways to dress, and ways to live and eat and work and sleep and play. Everything was regimented, as it should be; everything was neat like the geometric patterns of tile and mosaic. Everything was as it should be.Princes and princesses alike wore fine robes, and the stallions carried swords as well, with which to defend their family and their herd. The robes, too, held a practical purpose: the robes shielded them from the sun and prevented the oppressive heat from laying them low. For the most part it was practical and comfortable. Sometimes, however, their royal attire, marks of their rank, caused...difficulties.
Difficulties such as this one: this morning, in his daily sword drill, Haidar had ripped his robe. He stared at it, mournfully, wondering what to do; he was ashamed of himself. His movements had been sloppy, and now he had damaged a robe. What would his father, or his older brother, or his mother say? Had he just shown disrespect to his family through his clumsiness?
In a panic, he slipped out of the royal compound and headed into the herd. He knew there had to be artisans, people skilled in the making and repairing of cloth, that could help him. He headed out into the part of the herd where the artisans lived, seeking out the tent where he might find a Star who could fix his damaged robe.
