“And I would serve a real purpose against the Kinsmen, as I wish to do.”
“You’d offer them a temptation they couldn’t resist—the supposed location of the original alien excayation that gave us the slingshot drive. And if they failed to share this intelligence with the shaauri—if they acted alone in raiding the world in question—they’d fall right into the trap Lord Miklos has prepared for them and expose themselves as traitors.”
Ronan finally met her gaze. “There are many ‘ifs’ in this plan. What if I gave the information to Kalevi before the Kinsmen arrived, or if the Kinsmen proved to be loyal allies? It would be my people springing this trap.”
“That was a possibility Lord Miklos was prepared to face. He still regards shaauri as the adversary. For him, the end result would be much the same.”
“Destruction of the enemy.”
“That’s why I came with you. I didn’t remember the plan, but I sensed that my presence would be important.” She flushed and looked away. And what I said before, about love…
If Ronan heard the thought, he gave no sign. “By accompanying me to Aitu, you have given me the opportunity to discover the truth.”
And thereby undermined the scheme completely. She tried to laugh. “It obviously wasn’t a very good idea.”
“Would you have urged me to cooperate with the Kinsmen?”
“I don’t know. Until now, intuition was all I had to go on.”
“You also proposed destinations other than Aitu when we approached the border. Did this intuition suggest that we should escape before your plan could be implemented?”
Escape. That was exactly what she’d wanted, knowing in her gut that the forgotten scheme might end in disaster.
“Lord Miklos never insisted that you return to Aitu,” she said, “but we knew you wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
“In spite of your hope to divert me.” He reached up to touch her knee, and the heat in his eyes flowed through skin and cloth, turning her spine to rubber. “Now that I know of the deception, it will not be so simple to deceive the Kinsmen.”
“No. But I still have faith in you. I would never have done this if I didn’t.” She covered his hand with her own. “You’ll have to keep bluffing Lenko.”
He let his hand fall and got to his feet. “He expects to win honor for Kalevi, and himself, by sharing my knowledge with the A’Aho-Kei’hon-vekki. I cannot allow my House and Line to be shamed and made vulnerable by promising intelligence they cannot deliver.”
She rose to face him. “You can’t tell Lenko you have nothing. He’ll kill you.”
“You are in danger from both shaauri and the Kinsmen. I must salvage what I can.”
Cynara took several steps toward him and stopped, checked by his rigid posture and her own shame. “We can still make use of this, Ronan. There must be a way, if you’ll only—”
A figure appeared in the doorway, its shadow falling across the threshold. Ronan looked up, as startled as she.
“Sihvaaro,” he said.
“Ronan,” he said in Standard. “I have come to warn you. Arv’Darja has arrived in force to demand possession of the female Cynara D’Accorso, in restitution for the death of their ve’laik’in at your hands.” He met Cynara’s gaze over Ronan’s shoulder. “By shaauri custom, the kin of a shaaurin wrongly killed by one of another House or Line may demand payment for the life, in goods or in kind.”
“Ronan was defending himself,” Cynara protested.
“Darja considers your presence here an abomination, and not worth a single shaauri hair. Therefore, any death associated with you or your defense is regarded as nemii, ‘unlawful.'”
Ronan’s entire body had become a crackling coil of energy. “Cynara is not a thing to be taken in blood-settlement.”
“Va’laik’i may debate this point,” Sihvaaro said, “and stand firm against Arv’Darja. But I fear they will not. Of what value is Cynara D’Accorso? Better to surrender her and spare the risk of battle.”
“I will fight.”
“No, Ronan,” Cynara said, gripping his shoulder.
“Darja would be pleased to see you die, Ronan,” Sihvaaro said. “Then the life of Cynara D’Accorso will still be forfeit.”