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had a Dushanne Garden and a tame musician as outward signs of his status, no
more. It amused him to keep Ilarn about as long as the music didn t interfere
with what he was doing.
The rain was coming down hard when he ran from the main building to the garden
shed, beating on his head and shoulders, soaking him. The harp was in her
carry sack of c hau cloth and dry when he took
her out, but he wiped her down carefully with an oil rag, loosened the strings
and wrapped her in a blanket, then stripped, rubbed himself dry and
stretched out in the bed, his second blanket wrapped about him.
We re hurting them. We re really hurting them. We haven t gotten them out yet,
but I begin to think we will.
He cut off that thought before it went further, began running children s songs
through his head, the simple repetitive rhythm thumping along with his heart.
He matched his breathing to the beat, closed his eyes and concentrated on the
song ...
capa capa where do you graze? Upland and downland wherever grass
stays. Capa capa how do you run? Clippaclop clippaclop under the sun. Capa
capa when do you play? Dawnlight and noon bright and all the long day ....
A deep organ note broke through his disciplined reverie. He squeezed his eyes
shut and huddled the blanket closer about him, then sighed and sat up.
When he stepped into the rain, the downpour had slackened a little, the beat
of the drops against his head and shoulders not so painful. He shielded his
eyes and looked up.
To his relief there were no light lines lacing the clouds. These dead-eared
Chave must have thought it was only thunder.
A small dark blob fell from the clouds, slanting in its plunge as the wind
caught it. He could see that it was weighted, otherwise the wind would have
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carried it away; even so, it was only the top branches of the kerre tree that
stopped it from going over the wall. He swore and ran toward the tree, caught
the packet as the swaying branches let it drop.
Back in the shed, he dried off again, lit a candle and sat crosslegged on the
bed to open his prize.
Nested in a springy mass of thread lichen he found half a dozen smaller
packets, neatly labeled and sealed with wax. At the bottom of the packet there
was a brief letter. He held it close to the candle flame, scowled as he
struggled to make out the writing.
Ard Ilarn, we greet you and bless you for the great service you have done the
people of
Bluchad. We call upon you now for even more sacrifice and devotion. Place the
packets of reka spores inside the air intake in the Ykkuval s office; we
believe this will carry them into the basement where the head machine lies. We
hope the reka will take root in there and kill the ma-chine. Since the attacks
on the crawlers, the water taken into the fort passes through a series of
filters in order to keep spores from entering the system. It is refiltered and
reused several times, but the inner filters are less efficient and will let
some things pass. Find a way of delivering the packet of powder marked
ederedda into the drinking water. It won t kill them, but they would prefer
death over the way they feel for a few hours_ There are two ederedda packets.
If possible, slip them into the system around five hours apart. In the packet
marked dok you will find two airgun darts. The tips are coated with fresh
minik so be very careful of them. If you have a chance, set those darts in the
Ykkuval s hide. We have tested minik on
Chave. They die even faster than Bluchar. This will be difficult because the
Chav skin is too thick for the darts except in a few places. If the Ykkuval
will let you get behind him, the area where his ears attach to the skull is
vulnerable. Also the palms of his hands and the inside of his elbow. His eyes
if you can get them before the inner lids come down; these look fragile, but
they aren t. The inside of his mouth. The inside of his ear. Unless you think
you can get at one of these areas, it would be best not to try. The minik will
stay potent for seven days. Do not try to use the darts after that much time
has passed. In the packet marked tugh, you will find two wax covered pills.
There is liquid amikta inside. One is for you, the other can be dropped into
any drink at less than boiling temperature. If it is a cold drink, crush the
pill between your fingers. You should know that it s quite likely the amikta
will kill you also if you touch it with your bare fingers. There is apparently
no smell or taste, at least none the Chave can detect.
This too we have tested on captives. Chel D bless you, Ard Ilarn, and give
you peace.
The Council of Bluchad in Peril
He rubbed the tip of his forefinger across the signa-ture, sighed
and shook his head; whatever
happened the world he knew was gone forever. He twisted the note into a spill,
put the end in the candle flame until it caught fire, then sat holding the
paper and watching it burn.
The thought of actually doing the things they wanted him to do started his
belly churning and his hand shaking so much the fire went out and he had to
rekindle it from the candle. It wasn t that they were difficult. He knew
Hunnar s office as well as he knew the strings of his harp.
What they were asking was suicide.
Even if he didn t try to kill Hunnar, once the dam-age was discovered, it
couldn t be anybody but him that did it.
I can t. He shivered. He started crying. I can t. I can t. I. Can t ....
16. Plots and Deeds
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1
Banikoh, Medon Pass, sun not fully up yet
The morning was cool with dew glittering in the long shadows that filled the
pass. Shadith stood with
Aslan outside the tower s iron door, watching Maor-gan lead the moss ponies
down the switchback from the tower to the road. She rubbed at her eyes,
yawned, her body still aching with sleep-need. If you ll take Danor, it ll be
easier on him riding in the flikit than trying to sit a pony.
You re sure you won t come along?
Can t leave the ponies, Scholar. Besides, this is how we were told to come. I
think it s better we stick to the script.
Right. We ll give you an hour s start and stay low when we follow.
Shadith grinned at her. You re enjoying this, aren t you?
Aslan raised a brow, then grinned back. Right. She sighed. This is a
fascinating society. Isolated all these years, working out a way for disparate
species to live together and like it. There s the sioll bond.
I want to know more about that. Other bonds. Some-thing about the way
the two species interact.
Maybe part physical. Interesting to see if over time the Yar-aka that stay
here long enough will go the same way.
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