by Sharon Lee
The shadows moved, reshaped themselves into a pilot in plain port leathers. His hair was brown, his face calm and comely.
"Ren Zel dea'Judan," he said, with a nod that was courteous, between pilots."Clan Korval."
"If I was you, I'd run," Sal said frankly."Bethy's a little off her head right now."
The pilot smiled, and shook his head; she could feel the weight of his attention on her and squared her shoulders, the better to bear it.
"You called me, perhaps, Pilot?" he asked.
"Perhaps I did," she replied. There was a small sound in the night, and she looked to Ren Zel dea'Judan's right, where another pilot stepped out of the shadows, dark hair stirring about her head, though there was no breeze on-port tonight.
"Ren Zel," she said, her voice soft and strong.
He raised a hand and the other pilot took a breath, folded her hands before her and said nothing more.
So, then. Cyrbet raised her chin and looked into his eyes.
"You killed my mother," she said."My grandfather never forgave you."
"It is a terrible thing," Ren Zel dea'Judan said,"to lose a child."
Cyrbet licked her lips.
"You ruined Clan Jabun," she said, continuing the litany of those things this man had visited upon them."My grandfather hated you for that."
The pilot bowed his head; said nothing.
She raised the gun, slowly, as Grandfather had taught her, until she still practiced what she must do, in her dreams.
"He taught me," she said."He taught me to hate you. He taught me to use this, so that I would, one day, achieve Balance."
The other pilot, the woman, moved sharply, and subsided at once, a hand fisted at her breast; she saw it from the corner of her eye. Ren Zel dea'Judan never looked aside, his face calm, as if the gun had no meaning for him.
"I am here, now," Cyrbet said, going into the High Tongue for the correct phrase,"as Jabun's delm and the instrument of my grandfather's will. He last wish was for Balance with Ren Zel dea'Judan. I hereby fulfill his Balance, for the best good of the clan."
She reversed the gun and extended it to the brown-haired pilot, butt-first.
He stepped forward to receive it; held it with the muzzle pointed toward the ground.
Gently, he bowed.
"Lady, we are in Balance. Your grandfather's will is achieved; Jabun's honor is restored. Let there be peace, and let all wounds heal."
It was done.
Cyrbet felt her knees begin to tremble; felt Sal's hand come under her arm, supporting her.
"All done, now?" he asked, his voice careful.
"All done, now," she agreed, and nodded to Ren Zel dea'Judan and his second.
"Good e'en, Pilots."
"Good e'en," said the woman, coolly.
"Good e'en," said the man."Sleep well."
"Let's go, Bethy," Sal said, turning her back toward Kunkle's."You had a long day and a busy night, and you ain't told me yet if you're gonna marry me."
"Did you ask?" she inquired, and the two of them walked away without a backward look.
***
Anthora stepped to his side.
"That," she said,"was extraordinarily dangerous. Please do not expose yourself so, beloved! What should I have done if you had been killed?"
"But how could I have been, when you had extracted the pellets?" he murmured, slipping the gun into his pocket and turning to offer her his arm."Where are they?"
She extended her fist, opening the fingers one by one to show six pellets lying in her palm -- and suddenly laughed.
"All for naught. The young delm was wiser than I guessed."
Ren Zel sighed, looked into an ether stitched with flawless golden threads, and smiled.
About the Authors
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are the authors of eighteen collaborative novels of science fiction and fantasy, most set in the Liaden Universe® a space opera geography of their own devising. Their latest novel is Ghost Ship, published by Baen Books in August 2011. Dragon Ship is coming from Baen, in September 2012.
In addition to her work in the Liaden Universe® Sharon has also seen published a contemporary fantasy, Carousel Tides, and two mysteries set in the town of Wimsy, Maine.
For a more-or-less-complete bibliography, as well as bios, and a list of upcoming author appearances, please drop by http://www.korval.com
