What happened was that the people of Tiq liked him as much as he liked Tiq. He had, as did any roadbuilder, skills in how to use wildplants, deliver babies, massage, weld, and play on box-drums, and some military skills. The townspeople ensured that he would stay by introducing him to Etke.
     It was she who called him, in the manner of her dialect, Arinka. (I forgot to mention that his name when young was Ringal. The mouths of the people of Tiq made it into something slightly different, and this reminded them of a figure from far back in their history whose name was Arinka. He had been a king — Arinka I — not only back in the time when there were kings but at the beginning of that time. It amused them to picture that hoary Arinka reincarnated in their fresh roadbuilder friend.)
     They made him their mayor. At last he knew that he would stop moving, and never go back to his origin, nor onward to the road's origin.