to risk Maman and Papan by staying with the service, she said. Maybe I don t
have the right to serve, because more people than I will pay the price if I
fail.
Sit. Dùghall pointed to the high-backed carved chair nestled into the corner
beneath one of the library s leaded glass windows. He settled himself into its
twin, and only when Kait was seated said, You serve the Family; that is duty.
You do so without endangering the lives of your family; that is both
obligation and act of love. But the needs of the
Family must come first, Kait-cha. I have lived by this dictum, as you must:
You are born to greatness, but greatness must be re-earned in every
generation.
Your life
Kait cut him off. is an extension of the lives of my ancestors, and a
bridge to the future, and as such my life can never be wholly my own, for my
every action reaps yesterday s fruit and sows tomorrow s seeds. She quoted
Habath solemnly. I
know my duty.
Then no more uncertainty about whether you do right to serve. You have been
chosen; you must serve.
My comment is that I was not chosen by those who knew the truth about me; I
question that I would have been asked to serve if the truth were known.
And that you reached adulthood alive so that you could be chosen, what of
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that? I do not question too closely the value of miracles the gods guide our
feet down mysterious paths; I chose you, but I think now that my choice was
better than I had previously thought, rather than worse. No matter what anyone
else might think. I ll keep your secret to myself for now; I don t trust
everyone in the Family to know a boon when one is given.
Kait laughed at that. I don t trust anyone in the Family to keep me from the
horses in the square, to tell you the truth. Except my family and you.
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Nor should you. Remain circumspect, and I ll make sure that you receive
assignments suited to your peculiar talents. He leaned back and laced his
fingers together. And speaking of your talents . . . what are they, exactly?
I ve already figured out that your hearing is better than mine, and I know
that you can climb sheer walls that I would have thought impossible to breach
without hammers and pitons. But why can you do these things?
Kait said, I m Karnee.
Dùghall looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and let out a slow breath. I
thought that might be it.
For that reason I warned you of the boy they executed today I d heard . . .
rumors . . . before we left the embassy that such a creature had run wild last
night and had been apprehended in the early hours. I
doubt the boy was the cause of those deaths in the alley. He arched a
thoughtful eyebrow in her direction. So the Family curse has not yet abated.
I would seem to be proof that it hasn t.
To what degree are you affected? Improved hearing, improved sight, increased
lust and vigor, added strength?
Kait s laugh this time had no humor in it. All of those benign things, and
all of the foul ones as well.
I m fully Karnee, like the child who died in the street today. I Shift when
I m angry or overcome by other emotion, or when I ve gone too long without
Shifting; I m both woman and monster in one body, and the part of me that
knows joy and pleasure without regret is not the woman, but the monster. When
I m Karnee, my blood sings out for other blood, and for the hunt, and for
rutting, and I m without mercy, and without remorse.
There are times, child, when both mercy and remorse are curses, too.
Kait frowned. Maybe so. But the human part of me carries the remorse for both
parts and seems to carry it in double measure.
Dùghall nodded and leaned back in the chair, and templed his fingers in front
of him. In order to live with ourselves, we accommodate who we are with who
we wish to be. If we are to know happiness in this short life, we do it
without lying to ourselves, and we remember to be kind. Vincalis again. I
really must find you a copy of
To Serve Honorably when we get back to the House. It and the Secret Texts will
be essential to you. Simply essential.
Kait said, I ll read both if they ll help me serve the Family better.
They ll help. Of course if you really want to serve the Family, find the
Mirror of Souls for us. He laughed when he said it.
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Kait didn t get the joke. The Mirror of Souls? What s that?
A myth, I think, Dùghall told her. We ve found several references to it now
in the oldest books we have, and of course the Secret Texts speak of it. He
sighed. Supposedly, it s the greatest artifact of the
Ancients. From the best translations we ve obtained, it seems to have been a
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device that called the dead back from the grave and returned them to the world
of the living. Imagine being able to bring back to life all of our dead
relatives. He shook his head, bemusement clear on his face. We could overrun
the
Sabirs and Dokteeraks and Masschankas and Kairns in days and take control of
Ibera. And that would be the end of the wars and the slaughter and the
struggle.
You sound like you think such a device might exist.
Do I? Forgive an old man s wistfulness. I
wish such a device existed if the Galweighs alone could obtain it, of
course. But in spite of the several references to it in the ancient
literature, I believe that, had it ever existed, it has long since vanished
from the face of the earth. And I number myself among the cynics, for I don t
believe it ever existed. Such magic would be . . .
He sat forward and smiled. Forget my musings, Kait. How childish of me to
fill your head with the fancies of the Ancients. You don t need any such
silliness. Concentrate on keeping Tippa out of trouble, and make sure she
doesn t suspect the Dokteeraks treachery, or she ll give us all away. She s a
sweet child, but far too naive.
I ll make sure she thinks everything is still fine. How long will I have to
keep up the pretense?
Dùghall s grin was predatory. You and I and Tippa will be leaving for
Calimekka by airible four days from now, at predawn.
That s the day of the wedding.
Yes.
What about everyone else?
Most of them will be gone by tomorrow. The last few will leave the day
after.
Kait winced. The Dokteeraks will notice.
Dùghall laughed. That s the beauty of this. The airibles have been bringing
in a steady stream of
wedding guests since we got word home yesterday . . . but they aren t truly
wedding guests, of course.
They re soldiers in wedding dress, many of them disguised as women to make up
for the few swordswomen and female archers we have. And the embassy staff has
been traveling back in the
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Diplomacy of Wolves supposedly empty airibles, disguised as ballast. The three
of us can t leave until the last minute because
Tippa and that rodent Calmet have the sunset purification ritual the night
before the wedding, and I have to stand witness, and you re to chaperone
again. But we ll have an airible waiting for us when we return to the embassy,
and veiled soldiers will attend the wedding in your stead, and my replacement
shall wear a hood.
Kait smiled, and for the first time that day the smile felt genuine. Then the
wedding won t be what the
Dokteeraks are expecting.
Far from it. When it s over, the Galweighs will be the only ones
celebrating.
Chapter
10
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