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a swarm of wasps smoked from their nest, but they kept their distance, wary of
her, frightened by the promise of power in that monstrous beast of a flier.
She wore a harness she'd designed for this moment, plain, with no weapons,
only spyeyes, so Skeen could see and hear what she saw and heard.
There was a gate in the wall about a score of meters from the landing site.
When Lipitero reached it, she hesitated, wondering whether it would be locked
against her. She hoped not, she'd rather start this talk on a friendly basis.
If Skeen had to burn the gate open for her, well she didn't want to think
about that. The gate was simple, planks of a velvety tight-grained wood
polished by weather to a soft smoky gray. She flattened her palm on the wood,
gave a short sharp push. The gate swung smoothly open, the hinges were oiled
and silent. She stepped inside.
Two Ykx waited alone beside an immense tree that spread great russet limbs
across a moss garden and a small noisy stream that came round heavy beams of
roughcut unpainted wood which formed part of a structure that was mostly
hidden behind clumps of bamboo, flowering bushes, trees and climbing vines, a
stream that continued across the glade to pass under the wall a short distance
beyond the gate. A quiet, peaceful place, filled with the music of the water,
scattered trills of birdsong and the soft buzzing of hidden insects. With
Ti-cat following half a meter behind her and slightly to one side, Lipitero
crunched along a gravel path to a wooden footbridge. She stopped on the bridge
and examined the two strange Ykx.
A stocky golden Ykx, no longer young but so astoundingly beautiful the breath
caught in Lipitero's throat when she looked at her. Her harness was ancient
leather, worn and comfortable, patched in several places with leather thongs,
probably by her own impatient hands. The lacing was nastily done, with no
attempt at disguising the utilitarian purpose of the work. Her fur had been
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brushed sometime in the recent past but not since she'd done some pruning, if
the bits of leaf and bark dusted along her forearms meant anything. She was
smiling a little, deep glowing eyes watching Lipitero and Ti-cat with gentle
amusement and considerable curiosity. Beyond all doubt, the Kinravaly Rallen.
At her side, a tall Ykx, female in her prime, couldn't be much past her
bearing years. A silver-gray like Lipitero. Stern handsome face. Sleek, rangy,
strong. She stood at the Kinravaly's shoulder, looking like she wanted to be a
step ahead, her body interposed between the Kinravaly and Lipitero. Seething
with a suppressed anger that found expression in the unnatural rigidity of her
body, she fixed her amber-crystal eyes on Lipitero as if she dared the
stranger to make a hostile move. Obviously she didn't want Lipitero anywhere
around the Kinravaly, strange scarred Ykx whose motives were suspect, who
could threaten the woman she protected so earnestly.
Lipitero waited.
The gold Ykx smiled. "I am Kinravaly Rallen. You asked to speak with me."
Lipitero spread her arms, letting her flightskins fall free, showed her hands,
empty, claws retracted. "I am Lipitero the Bereft who come to speak for the
last Gather on Mistommerk."
"Bereft?" The Kinravaly took a step forward, ignoring the wordless protest of
the silver-gray. Her ocean-deep eyes swept over the scars that marred
Lipitero's face and torso. "You've been hurt."
"My children are dead, my kin are gone, my Gather lies empty and broken."
Lipitero felt uneasy with the contrast between the formality of her speech and
the quick fluid response of the Kinravaly (words and body language both), but
the Kinravaly's accent and some of the words she used demanded hard listening
and puzzling out at times; speech would grow easier as she grew accustomed to
the accent, but at the moment she felt safest keeping to the most formal of
exchanges.
"That's a terrible thing. Do you come from Ysterai? No, of course, I mix
myself up, you said Mistommerk. Is that a colony settled after Rallen? Do you
have trouble there?"
After sorting out the questions and puzzling out what the Kinravaly actually
said, Lipitero dug for words. "Colony, yes. Settled not from Ysterai but from
Tovazh. I am come a beggar from Sydo Gather to say this: The Gathers of
Mistommerk are empty and Sydo is alone. We cannot exist alone. I am come to
plead for colonists to fill the empty Gathers."
"I see. We must talk about this more." The Kinravaly turned to the silver-gray
Ykx who was grinding her teeth with frustration. She looked up into the rigid
face and smiled. "Zem-trallen, go reassure the Kinra, will you? Be sensible,
my friend. Our visitor wants help, why should she harm me, what good would
that do her? Go, before I have Sulleggen storming in here foaming at the mouth
and demanding answers to questions I haven't even thought of yet."
The Zem-trallen clamped her lips together, threw a searing glare at Lipitero,
swung round and stalked off.
The Kinravaly beckoned to Lipitero. "Come round to the patio, we can sit and
chat there, be more comfortable. I've ordered some iska and cakes. Do you know
iska? No? It's a sweetish herbal decoction drunk hot or iced, very refreshing.
We've been a long time apart, but I don't think it would be dangerous to you.
I've heard that the young alien who visited us a few years back ate and drank
with Ykx and had no trouble from it. Hmm, was it him who guided you here?" She
laughed suddenly, a warm accepting sound. "You probably don't understand half
of what I'm babbling."
"That is true, Kinravaly." Lipitero spoke slowly, carefully. 'But I am growing
accustomed to hearing you and understanding becomes easier. Please continue,
but be patient with my thick head."
The Kinravaly laughed again and continued a steady flow of conversation as she
led Lipitero and Ti-cat to a covered patio looking down a long slope of grass
and flowers. Carved wooden screens were placed about to block the wind and
several braziers provided enough heat to keep them comfortable in spite of the
chilly air. When Lipitero was seated, her feet on a low hassock, Ti-cat
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stretched out beside her, the Kinravaly pulled a bell cord, then settled
herself in a worn old chair, her feet propped on a three-legged stool.
Anki came in with a heavily loaded tray. The Kinravaly took a cup of iska and
sipped at it as the young Ykx brought a cup and a selection of wafers to
Lipitero and set these things on a small table at Petro's elbow, then glided
out. The Kinravaly set her cup down, laced her fingers over her stomach fur.
"Tell me why you are here. More detail now. Take your time, I will listen as
long as you need."
"It requires preamble," Lipitero said. The iska warmed and relaxed her. I
should take some plants back with me, if I can talk Skeen into carrying them.
She closed her eyes a moment. The words were starting to come easier, but this
chase between two similar languages was hard on her head, long habit came
constantly out of the shadows to trip her up. "I do not know how much the
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