Damon had not asked if Cynara would leave her ship to go with him, back to the shaauri. He understood too well.
"She is captain of the Pegasus," Ronan said at last. "Once, because of another man's madness, she doubted her right and fitness to command this vessel. Those doubts are gone." He smiled, though his face felt rigid as a mask. "This is the Path to which she was born, and the greatest wish of her heart. She has no need of assistance."
"Even though she loves you?"
He almost denied it. She had been his lifemate for a time, when necessity had compelled the bond. She had never asked that their mating of convenience be made permanent.
"Captain D'Accorso has seen the best and worst of shaauri-ja," he said. "She has an understanding of shaauri language and culture, and knows that there is much the two species share. She can speak for them among humans, as I can speak for humanity among shaauri."
"Will the shaauri accept such an arrangement?"
'That, too, must be presented to A'Aho-Kei'hon-vekki and debated among the Lines and Clans. It will not happen quickly. But shaauri admire boldness in the face of impossible odds. My presence, and that of Arhan and its allies, may smooth the path."
"And the Kinsmen?"
"Proof of Kinsman treachery against shaauri-ja will be, as humans say it, a 'mixed blessing.' But the Lines will know that the Concordat also wished to expose the Kinsmen as enemies to all."
"You can't do this alone, Ronan, even if they don't kill you for your trouble."
"Eventually other humans must come as negotiators, those who have properly learned shaauri ways. And only if the Concordat is willing to make concessions that may run counter to human convention and belief."
"I have some very interesting information that may incline the Concordat to set aside old grudges." Cynara joined them, resting her hands on Damon's and Ronan's shoulders as if they were old, easy companions.
But Damon could not begin to feel what Ronan felt—admiration, respect, love beyond any for teacher or friend. He understood the significance of her words. "When VelRauthi and his subordinates probed you on the bridge—"
"—I returned the favor and discovered that you weren't the only Kinsman agent in the Concordat. Your assignment to assassinate the Archon was the most formidable, but at least a dozen other agents were positioned to carry out similar political murders on other worlds as soon as word of the Archon's death reached them. All together, these would have had a profound impact on the Concordat as a whole."
"How could they have breached our security?" Damon demanded. "We took every precaution against Kinsman infiltration."
"That I don't know," Cynara said, "but I'll give their locations to you and the Archon's intelligence service so that you can arrest and question them."
Damon pulled a pocket recorder from his suit. "I must ask that you begin at once, Captain, in the event these agents decide to act on their own."
"Of course, Lord Damon. And I'm sure you'll be a most enthusiastic proponent of our new peace effort."
"Blackmail, Captain?"
"Mutual advantage. Surely your unique abilities can detect the future benefits in a permanent peace?"
"You may have noted that my abilities are not reliable," Damon said with a hint of his former rancor. "I saw Ronan dead, and he survived." He addressed Ronan with a twisted smile. "I misjudged you in every way."
"Then we know the future can change," Cynara said. "We have the power to change it."
"As people can change," Ronan said. "Human, and shaaurin."
"There's an old human saying," Damon said, "'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'" Let us hope that the evil these Kinsmen have done will help to bind our species."
"Captain D'Accorso said to me that not all Kinsmen are treacherous and in search of power. My father was Kinsman, and so is Brit Carter VelShaan. Someday they may serve a new and unforeseen purpose."
"Are you also precognitive, Ronan?" Damon asked half mockingly.
"No. But I have learned that there are telepaths among shaauri. I have a theory that many of these become ne'li, outcasts, because they are torn between many Paths."
Cynara lifted her brow. "That's a very radical idea, Ronan. Will shaauri even consider it?"
"Shaauri must be taught to accept this idea, if it proves valid. As humans may learn from shaauri—as I learned from Sihvaaro—so shaauri may learn from humans that some may walk between Paths for the advantage of all."
"And who better to teach them than you?"
Their gazes met. Cynara took his hand and led him to the briefing room adjoining the bridge, sealing them away from Damon and the crew.
Ronan opened his mouth to speak, but Cynara pressed her finger to his lips.
"I know what you plan to do," she said softly. "Go back with Arhan and face the War-Leader. I never expected anything else."
He caught her hand and turned it to kiss her palm. Her skin was warm with the taste of hope and sadness.
The time they both dreaded had almost come.
"Ronan," she said, resting her hand on his cheek.
"I know you must remain in the Concordat to command the Pegasus and share what you have learned," he said. "You do not hate the shaauri, though their ways are strange and often terrible to you. You will speak well for them."
"I understand so much more now," she said. "Some of it is in here"—she tapped her temple—"and some here." She pressed her hand to her chest above her heart. "Because of you, there's nothing in either place binding me to the past."
She held up her hand with its golden rings. One after another she pulled the rings from her fingers and clenched them in her fist.
"Sil akai," she said, and tossed the rings in a gleaming arc across the briefing table, where they lay like a child's discarded dice.
Ronan took her naked hand between his. "You were always stronger than Tyr."
"And you were always the equal of any man or shaaurin, no matter what you believed."
She would not let him deny it, but kissed him as if they had all the time in the world to talk and make love and discover each other again. He knew how much his mind had healed by the way his need fed on hers, by the way her urgent thoughts became entangled with his.
Stay with me, her body said. Stay.
"You can come back to Persephone," she said, kissing the angle of his jaw, "before returning to the shaauri. Arhan will wait." She nipped his ear. "You can set things right with the Archon, and Miklos—"
"No." He set her back so that he could see her eyes.
"Arhan must take action swiftly, without hesitation, and I must go with them. It is the only way to exploit the small advantages we now possess."
"It is when you face the most difficult challenge that you must call upon all Paths."
He heard Cynara's voice as clearly as if she had spoken aloud. But he also heard Sihvaaro's voice, from the day long ago when he had first taught Ronan that profound lesson.
"Sihvaaro," he said.
"He lives in me as he lives in you. He was right, Ronan."
"He spoke of Paths, Cynara, not people."
"Yet 'all Paths are One.' If that is true, then what can stand between us?"
Ronan found it difficult to speak. " 'There is a time to battle for what must change,'" he said thickly, " 'and a time to accept what will be.'"
"Yes. But Sihvaaro said something else, when he first met me. He called me your lifemate."
Ronan looked away. "He did not understand."
"I think he did, better than either one of us. He was a remarkable person, and his gifts were great."
"As are yours. You must not waste them."
She gripped his upper arms and gave him a shake. "You swore before your Line that I was your lifemate. I didn't release you from that pledge."
"It was a deception I never expected you to honor."
"It was a little high-handed," she said with a crooked smile, "but it was the right thing to do. It still is." She compelled him to meet her gaze.
"You still have some crazy idea that you're somehow unsuitable to be the lifemate of a simple Alliance captain."
"To lifemate is… it is—"
"I know. Sacred. Forever." She buried her fingers in the short hair at the nape of his neck. "Do you love me, Ronan?"
There could be no more deception. His mind had reawakened, and his heart lay helpless before her challenge.
All at once she opened her thoughts to him, withholding nothing. Her love was fierce and undeniable like river floods after the great Thaw, spilling down from the Semakka Mountains. It drowned him in humility and awe.
"I had something to prove to myself when I took command of the Pegasus," Cynara said, "a whole lifetime's worth of rebellion against my culture, realizing the fulfillment of my greatest ambitions, showing myself worthy to take Tyr's place when I was afraid I could never be. None of that is important now."
"Your captaincy is important. Your skill and ability cannot be replaced. The Pegasus—"
"The Pegasus will do very well without me. It's only a matter of time before the Concordat builds a whole fleet of the ships, and they'll need captains."
"Kord—the others—"
"—will also be perfectly fine. I have confidence that Lizbet, in particular, is ready to strike out on her own." She raised her hand. "And before you bring it up, I can give Damon all the information he needs in a few hours."
Ronan felt his temper slipping its leash, hope and denial like opposing ve'laik'i battling inside his skull. "You cannot be happy away from your own people, or among mine. Every day would be a struggle to win respect and acceptance."
"It sounds very familiar." She bared her teeth with something less than humor. "And I'll have a teacher of vast and varied experience."
"Even I may not survive—"
She placed her hands on her hips. "Are you finished?"
He stared at her. She laughed, pure joy.
"You know by now that I was never content to be what my birth dictated. I've always wanted to see what's around the next wormhole—and I still haven't got a proper souvenir from a shaauri world. That's why I'm going with you. And you don't have anything to say about it."
Ronan tipped back his head and hissed through his teeth. "Sihvaaro," he said, "why have you set me such a test?"
Cynara pulled his head down and rested her forehead against his. "Because he knew you could do it. Do you remember the last thing he said?"
He breathed in the scent of her hair. 'The circle will be complete.'"
"And now," she said, setting her mouth to his, "it is."
* * *
Glossary
Characters
Aarys, Tala: Third of Aarys striker
Adumbe, Scholar-Commander Taye: Pegasus second-in-command
Annukki: Ronan's childhood friend, now ri'laik'in
Antiniou, Charis: chief engineer on the Pegasus
Archimedes: mascot cat on the Pegasus
Ardith: medical assistant on the Pegasus
Basterra, Cargomaster Segar: cargomaster on the Pegasus
Belloq: a shaauri Kinsman
Beneviste, Magnus Egon: father of Nyle Beneviste
Beneviste, Matrona Egona: mother of Nyle Beneviste
Beneviste, Fico Nyle: Cynara's former fiance
Bhruic- guard on the Pegasus
Challinor, Lord Achilles: birth name of Ronan VelKalevi
Challinor, Lord Ambros: Ronan's elder brother
Challinor, Lord Damon: aka Phineas Janek; Ronan's younger brother
Challinor, Lord Hector: Archon of Persephone, Ronan's uncle
Challinor, Lady Kori Galatéa: Ronan's mother
Challinor, Lord Miklos: Ronan's uncle
D'Accorso, Magnus Casnar: Cynara's father, leading burgher-lord of Elsinore
D'Accorso, Cynara: captain of the Pegasus
D'Accorso, Matrona Zurine: Cynara's mother
D'Accorso-fila, Elendra: Cynara's sister
Gajda: Royal Intelligence agent assigned to Miklos's personal guard
Gunter, Sam: survivor of the abandoned mining colony on Bifrost
Hanno: Ronan's primary caregiver on Aitu, li'laik'in
Hraan: Aino'Ken Arhan, First of the Suhtaara; adopted Line-kin of Jonas VelArhan
Janek, Phineas: aka Damon Challinor; see Challinor, Lord Damon
Jauregi: second pilot of the Pegasus
Kant, Eeva: founder of the Kinsmen
Kane, Jonas: see VelArhan, Jonas Kane
Larsen, Magnus Vidar: member of Dharman Offworld Trade Council, powerful telepath
Lenko: First of Ain'Kalevi
Mains: Royal Intelligence agent assigned to Miklos's personal guard
Mairva: Ronan's childhood companion, now ve'laik'in
Montague, Lizbet: first pilot-navigator of the Pegasus
O'Deira, Kord d'Rhian: weapons specialist of the Pegasus; Ronan's blood-brother
Riko: Ronan's childhood companion now va'laik'in
Samit: Second of An'Kalevi
Siannas, Matrona Donata: Cynara's late aunt, married to Jesper Siannas
Siannas, Magnus Jesper: Cynara's uncle by marriage, originally of Persephone
Siannas, Tyr: Cynara's cousin, former captain of the Pegasus
Sihvaaro: Ronan's teacher and mentor on Aitu
Silta: male offspring of Annukki
Teklys: Persephonean agent assigned to young Achilles (Ronan)
Tesar: majordomo of Magnus D'Accorso
VelArhan, Jonas Kane: Ronan's father
VelKalevi, Ronan: adopted Kinsman of Line Kalevi; see Challinor, Lord Achilles
VelRauthi, Artur Constano: leader of the Kinsman rebellion
VelShaan, Brit Carter: Kinswoman employed by the Archon
Zheng, Miya: Chief Medic of the Pegasus
Locations
Aitu: shaauri colony world, Ronan's home for twenty-three years
Anvil: world of Concordat; Miya Zheng's homeworld
Bifrost: abandoned human colony
Concordat: federation of twenty human colony worlds, headed by Persephone
Dharma: primary planet of the Nine Worlds confederation
Elsinore: city-state of Novaterra
Eos: capital city of Persephone
Lubta: shaauri world on which Kinsmen are based
Matisse: colony world of the Nine Worlds confederation
Nemesis: colony world of the Nine Worlds confederation
Nine Worlds: confederation of human colonies separated from the Concordat by shaauri territory
Novaterra: largest island in the Dharman western hemisphere
Persephone: primary world of the Concordat
Sirocco: colony world of the Nine Worlds confederation; Kord's homeworld
Voishaaur Phrases
Farewell
Until we are whole: tan uri-kah
With the Ancestors: sil akai
Fortunate Path: kei'lai Thank-you
My honor to you: Ina-sh'ei vai kana Oath
By my Path and by my soul: ta'i'lai ta'i'ma Insult
Stinking: kek'ko
Ancestorless ghost: n'akai ne'lin
Body-without-fur (used for humans): anki-ne'karo Endearment
My breath/my soul: ina-ma Miscellaneous
One is called (male or female): ilku se
So be it (so say the Ancestors): akai'po
Voishaaur-Standard Glossary
A'Aho-Kei'hon-vekki: War-Leader; First of Firsts Clan Blood Leader
a'amia: predatory bird; raptor
Aarys: antihuman Line, spacefaring
Aho: First; primary leader
Aho'Ah'Aarys: First of First House Aarys
Aho'Ain'Kalevi: First of Second House Kalevi
Aho'An: First of Body
Aho'Kei: First of Clan
Aho'Ken: First of Line
Aho'Kih First of House
Aho'Va: First of Will
Ain'Kalevi: Second House of Kalevi
Ain'Kahvi-ja: Place of Second House Kalevi
Aino'Ain'Kalevi: Second of Second House Kalevi
Aino'Arv'Darja: Second of Third House Darja
Aino'Kei: Second of Clan
Aino'Ken: Second of Line
Aino'Va: Second of Will
An: honorific for
an'laik'in An'lai: Path of Body
An'laik'in: of the Body Path anki: Body
Anki-ja: Place of Body
anki-ne'karo: body-without-fur
arao: shaauri "tea"
Arban: human-allied Line, spacefaring
Arv'Darja: Third House Darja
Arv'Kahvi: Third House Kalevi
Arva'Kir: Council of Three: First, Second, and Third
Arvi: Third; tertiary leader
Arvi'Va: Third of Will
Aur.- shaauri homework!
ba'laik'in: preadolescent shaauri child
ba'ne: void
bali: childhood
be'laik'in: shaauri on Walkabout
be'rokb'-kaari'la: Walkabout; time of selection
Clan: see Kei
da'amera: Courage
Da'amera-ja: Place of Courage or Challenge; area where challenges are fought
Darja: antihuman Line of Aitu
eival: honorable
End of Void: mythical time when all living creatures took form
he'i: yes
House: see Kil
Hraan: Aino'Ken of Arhan
bylpup: small mammal native to Aur
ina'sh'ei vai kana. "My honor to you"; thank you
ja: place
jukki: monkey-like mammal native to Aitu
Jyri: forest on Aitu
kai: the Ancestors
Kalevi: antihuman, conservative Line, Ronan's adopted line
Kalevi-Kai: Kalevi ancestors
karo: hair, fur
Kei: Clan: equivalent of human "nation," made up of many Lines
kek: plant native to Aitu with bitter, corrosive sap
kek'ko: stinking, disgusting
Ken: Line: all Houses of one "surname"
Ki: honorific for ki'laik'in
ki'lai: Path of Reason
ki'laik'in: One of Path of Reason
kid: fortunate
Kil House: extended family in one location
kio: all/every
kio'laii: of all Paths
kio'n'uri: creature of shaauri legend
Kinsman's Oath Page 40
