Ronan’s eyes widened in real surprise, and the sides of his mouth stretched in a grimace.
“You knew?”
“These Kinsmen thought their work most secret, and prevented you from telling me,” Sihvaaro said with hissing shaauri laughter, “but they underestimated us both, did they not? You are here alive, with your full memory, a mate, and perhaps the means to catch certain humans in their own trap.”
“I should have expected you to unearth their plans. How much do you know?”
“Not enough. But perhaps you have what I lack.”
“We must speak further of this.”
Sihvaaro laid his hand on Ronan’s shoulder, dwarfing him. “You wonder why I vanished at the time you needed me.”
“No, Sihvaaro.”
“I will tell you. It was necessary for me to play ignorant so that I could learn as much as possible. When I discovered the full nature of their plans for you, and that they intended to take your memories, I considered who best to approach with this information. I spoke to Aho’Ain’Kalevi, but she, as you remember, had always been circumspect. I was prepared to take you from the Kinsmen myself.
“But these humans are most clever. They convinced the First that I wished to deliver you to one of the former prohuman Lines, where you could serve no useful purpose or might even work against Kalevi. Soon after you departed, Va Pohomi was challenged and deposed by Lenko. He now rules as First.”
Though she missed the subtleties of Sihvaaro’s tale, Cynara couldn’t mistake the gravity with which he spoke the final sentence, or Ronan’s reaction to it. “I assume this is bad news,” she said.
“Pohomi was a shaaurin of reason, though cautious in her decisions,” Sihvaaro said. “She accepted Ronan’s presence and supported his wish to aid shaauri-ja. though she could not know the Kinsmen’s hidden purpose. Lenko not only despises humans, but has great hatred for Ronan.”
Cynara met Ronan’s gaze. “Personal hatred?”
“Lenko is of Arv’Kalevi, Third House. Their settlement lies some kilometers away, near the mountains.” Ronan hesitated. “Arv’Kalevi is the most intransigent in hatred of humans. Before he left for Walkabout, Lenko was one of those who took pleasure in hunting me when I ventured away from Ain’Kalevi-ja. Sometimes he and his fellow ba’laik’i caught me alone.”
The shaauri “children” who had beaten and scarred him. “And no one defended you or tried to stop them until Sihvaaro?”
“Many hated me even here in Second House holding. It was necessary to prove my worthiness to survive.”
Cynara could not contain her loathing, even for Sihvaaro’s benefit. “I’d very much like to get my hands on this Lenko and his friends.”
“Do not consider such a move,” Sihvaaro said. “You would be killed. It is necessary to act with prudence.”
“Sihvaaro is correct,” Ronan said, touching her hand. “Lenko is my enemy, but others are not.”
She curbed her anger. “I’ll do my best to follow your instructions, but don’t expect miracles.”
“I do not.” He displayed the edges of his teeth. “But if Lenko offers to harm you, I will have to kill him.”
Then I’d better make damned sure I don’t provoke Lenko and get you killed. “At least the Kinsmen aren’t here yet.”
“It is surely a matter of days before they arrive,” Sihvaaro said. “They have longer ears than many shaauri.” He turned back to Ronan and resumed his story. “When Lenko became First, it was necessary for me to depart from Aitu. I did not know where you had gone and had no way to warn you of the change.”
“Yet you anticipated my return and risked Lenko’s anger to meet me on Aitu.”
Sihvaaro’s fingers flicked in a rippling gesture that might have been a shrug. “I am old. You are my student and my chosen kin.”
“You are accepted at Kalevi-ja once more?”
“I believe that others of Kalevi have also begun to suspect these Kinsmen of some illicit purpose,” Sihvaaro said, “though even the va’laik’i will not approach Lenko without sure proof. As long as the First thinks only of his hatred for humans, he will not be reasonable.”
“Then we should not remain here,” Ronan said, “but go directly to A’Aho-Kei’hon’vekki on Aur.”
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