A measure of strength returned. He raised his voice till it filled the hall: “The way of the Sky People is the rough way outward, to the stars. In that respect—and it overrides all others—they are more akin to us Maurai than you are. We cannot let our kin die.”
He sat then, in silence, under Loklann’s smirk and DOnoju’s stare. A guardsman shifted on his feet, with a faint squeak of leather harness.
Tresa said at last, very low in the shadows: “That is your final word, S’flor?”
“Yes,” said Ruori. He turned to her. As she leaned forward, the hood fell back a little, so that candlelight touched her. And the sight of green eyes and parted lips gave him back his victory.
He smiled. “I do not expect you will understand at once. May I discuss it with you again, often? When you have seen the Islands, as I hope you will—”
“You foreigner!” she screamed.
Her hand cracked on his cheek. She rose and ran down the dais steps and out of the hall.