Page 55 (1/2)
‘Ask your stupid little shict if you’re so Gods-da! Pointy-eared little beast knows everything, anyway!’
‘Humans, eh?’ was the extent of Kataria’s explanation when I did consult said beast Of all of them, Kataria is the one who doesn’t flee, ill look me in the eyes I should be happy with this But she’s the most tense of all, even when she smiles Especially when she smiles
She seeh on her head She’s always alert, always listening to
She doesn’t stare anyht I would be worried by that
I never considered them honest, but I did consider them open Some more than others Sometimes I wonder if Gariath, and his constant threats, kept all our tension directed toward him These bipedal lizards just don’t have the same appeal that he has
Sorry Had
If he’s alive, he’s not coes, so he said Of course, he didn’t seein with, so perhaps he’s found a nice cliff to leap from Either way, I hope he’s happy
I want them all to be happy I do I want them to be able to live without war I want us to part ways and be able to forget that our best ether were born in bloodshed
And maybe it’s up to me to help them with that I am the leader, after all I should be there for them, help them with this, no matter how drunk, skittish, silent or paranoid
It won’t be easy For any of us, least of all me I hear the voice Not always, not often, but I know it’s there I’ into someone else’s life
But I can do this
I can do this for all of us
Tonight is Togu’s celebration, a ‘ka of a joint feast to herald the end of summer and remember the day humans came to their island with salvation from starvation To hear the other Owauku speak of it, it’s an excuse to drink feruts and rut
Sounds like fun
As good a tiether, to tell the, to tell them e can do, that we can live without war Frooing to come easy
But I can do this
Twenty-Seven
AN INVITATION WITH FISTS
‘KAMPO!’
The collective roar of jubilation rose froht sky like an eruption fro dor out of their huts and lean-tos in waist-high green tides, setting bonfires alight to challenge the black sky overhead Their dru relentlessly without concern for rhyth to wo had been rolled out in treourds, dispensed into s such restraint simply buried their heads in the drink and came out barely alive but wholly satisfied
Once Lenk had seen enough to know that he was quite annoyed by the whole affair, his attentions turned to the Gonwa To a lizard out of the paths of the exuberant Owauku, lingering near fires only long enough to cook gohs of their squat, joyous hosts, they stood in groups of three or five, with only three or five groups ae of the upper lip of the valley, did Lenk truly notice ho and how silent they were
‘They aren’t going to join?’ he asked the brightly coloured creature to his side, gesturing to a nearby throng of Gonwa
‘The Gonwa coh, so they don’t think it cause to celebrate when you no longer have nothing’ He sniffed ‘Also, they’re just weird’
‘Right, but weren’t they invited? You said this was for us, didn’t you?’
‘That ht have been?’
‘They get hard to keep track of when you have a position of authority,’ Togu replied ‘You knoell, of course you know You lead, don’t you?’
‘Yes, but I don’t really lie’ Lenk’s eyebrows rose appreciatively ‘Is that what I’ve been doing wrong?’
‘Probably,’ Togu said ‘At any rate, it’s not a coo, huht with them all we needed to becooh …’
‘And all the brandy needed to forget e didn’t be havin’ ’e amusement of his co to the distant forest ‘If your forests are barren, how have you survived this long?’
‘Barely,’ Togu replied ‘Our numbers reached a point where we could subsist off of the occasional fish caught But they swa back so ’
‘Until the huu continued, ‘and the Kampo is here to remind us of what the humans have done for us, and to celebrate e came frorin at the young man ‘Of course, there was some hope that you’d be smitten by our native charm and be convinced to stay and convinceif the intent fixation of both of the Owauku’s eyes was supposed to be expectant, speculative or possibly slightly nauseous Hedging his bets, he si to leave toe, deeper in the valley, where he spied Denaos adding another half-gourd cup to a growing pile ‘Most of us, anyway In fact, I was hoping to see the boat’
‘The boat?’
‘The one you’re lend … giving us,’ Lenk replied ‘If I can figure out hoorks now, it’ll save the ti it tou waddled to the edge and stared down at the jubilant otten the word, it sometimes seems A fen there likely remember the barren forests we came from, but they have plenty now, so why should they rehed deeply, and then looked to Lenk ‘Have you ever had this proble your friends the harshness so that they h and smile?’
‘As far astends to co honest,’ Lenk replied, shrugging ‘But that’s killing It’s done when it needs to be done’
‘And you leave Teji? Will you not return to ?’
‘I don’t plan on it I’ve seen plenty of it’
‘I see …’ Togu said, looking back down at his people ‘You would say it is fair, then, to avoid spilling blood when need be?’
‘I would say,’ Lenk replied slowly, ‘that bloodshed is so, quickly If it’s at all possible to live without it, I don’t think it’s a ridiculous idea’ He offered a weak ss just coh Somehow, he didn’t feel quite convinced by his oords
‘I a his head as he turned about and began heading back up the valley’s edge toward his stone hut ‘Apologies, cousin The Ka to people in my position I will see you at the end of it all’
Lenk nodded stiffly Sou didn’t sound convinced, either
It was quickly forgotten, however, as he watched Togu fight against the tide of Owauku pouring into the deeper levels of the valley The king’s words lingered in his ears, the uncertainty in thehts
He wasn’t much of a liar, he admitted to himself Honesty had been bred into him But when it came to his co to theh confessionals to know thean Dreadaeleon asked too ainst him Gariath claimed to be able to smell lies and proved to be able to beat the truth out of people he suspected it of Denaos would hear thely And Kataria …
She believes you, he told himself She follows you, anyway, doesn’t she? The others threaten to leave if they don’t get their way and you tell them you don’t care if they do and that’s the truth But she’s never tried to leave …
He sed hard His mouth felt dry The bonfires were suddenly unbearably war to tell her when she does?’