Chapter 12
At the morning meal the next morning, Reyna remarked that Rose was unusually quiet.
“I’m thinking about Moira.”
“What are we going to do about her? We should mount a search party to find her.”
“We’d never find her in the woods. These forests extend for thousands of miles with no paths or markers. We could search ‘til doomsday and only get ourselves hopelessly lost in the bargain. Then no one would find us.”
“The Krataks can help us. They know these woods like the backs of their hands.”
Rohn listened to their conversation, but the rest of the family pretended not to hear.
“I’ve decided what to do about Moira.”
“What?”
“I’ve decided to try to contact Rex. We have no Allies representative. According to our procedures, we have no team without one. Rex is the only Allies representative we have. I have to contact him and discuss what to do next.”
“You’re not thinking of aborting the mission, are you?”
“I don’t see how we can do that. We have no way off the planet and no way to contact the Command to pick us up. We have to stay here until the end of the year.”
“Then what’s the point of contacting Rex? You’re in command of this team. You can decide what to do without consulting the representative, especially not a.....” Reyna stopped herself in mid-sentence. She glanced up the table at Rohn studying her.
The team fell silent. Everyone stared down at their food. No one dared pick up the conversation.
Rohn put down the meat he was chewing and rested his elbows on the table. “You can go ahead and say it. We all know what you were about to say. You were about to say you don’t have to consult the representative, especially not a man. Isn’t that right? Isn’t that what you were about to say?”
Reyna didn’t reply. She kept her eyes down. Now almost everyone watched and listened, even Damen.
Rose answered for her. “I apologize to all of you for this misunderstanding. The Allies are controlled by women. That’s no surprise to anyone here. The Allies’ political representative to a foreign people can be a man, but never the Commanding Officer of the forward team. Jasmine Forsythe, the biologist, is the Commanding Officer of the other team. I would contact Rex as a matter of protocol. He could never order me to abort the mission against my own judgment, even if he was a woman. He could never override Jasmine’s order to abort or to continue the mission, either.”
Some of the Krataks went back to their meal, but Rohn and Damen kept watching the team until, one by one, Rose’s friends dropped their eyes.
“We understand the Allies are controlled by female,” Rohn said. “That is why we choose not to trust the Allies’ intentions toward us. If you won’t even consult one of your own citizens in a matter of importance, why should we join your Alliance, where our society’s wishes won’t be consulted in matters related to our own survival and governance?”
Rose turned on him. “Come now. Let’s not have any more unpleasantness at communal meals. You have your views, and we have ours. We’re here to build friendships with you, not to debate the relative merits of our societies. We have no intention of robbing you of your sovereignty, and we expect you to give us the same consideration. Let’s all agree from now on to refrain from trying to convince each other that we are right and the other group is wrong. We can never come to common ground if we do that.”
He bowed his head, and a slight smile played on his lips. “Very well, Madam Commander. Well spoken. For my part, I agree.”
She couldn’t disguise her own smile. “Thank you.”
No one else said a word for the rest of the meal, and after it ended, the team went about their work. Rose wandered through the Keep to see what the others were doing. Fay took Reyna to a chamber that acted as a library. Loose papers rested in piles on shelves rising to the ceiling. Fay dug around and found more information than Reyna could use in a lifetime about Clan Harkniss and its relations with dozens of other Clans scattered all over Kratak.
The papers recorded marriages, deaths, births, and even casual lovers. They contained Rowan Harkniss’s accounts of his experiences during the war with another Clan. Rose bent over her shoulder to have a look. “Does it give any indication what started the war in the first place?”
“I don’t see anything. This account starts when Rowan left to fight. By that time, the war was already in full swing.”
Fay spoke up across the room. “I can tell you how it started.”
Both sisters looked up and said at the same time, “You can?”
“Of course. I can tell you, because Clan Prowiss was involved when it first started. Two different Clans, I believe it was Clan Rapsiss and Clan Fissor started the war over two men who wanted to take the same woman as a wife. They fought at the gatherings the way young men always do. Then the relatives of the man from Clan Rapsiss joined in to help him, and the relatives of the man from Clan Fissor helped him, and pretty soon, everyone from both Clans joined in. They fought and fought, and after they went home from the gathering, they still fought. That’s how the war started.”
“So how did Clan Prowiss join in?”
“My uncle married a girl from Clan Rapsiss, and they had a son who promised his cousins he would help them fight Clan Fissor. For some reason I can’t remember, his father my uncle joined him. I’m not sure, but I think he did it to protect his son from getting hurt. One by one, all my relatives got roped into the same conflict. Then one Clan joined in as allies of another Clan, and another Clan joined in to be allies to another Clan, and on and on it goes. That’s how the war got started.”
“That’s fascinating. We should record your recollections and the names of everyone involved, if you can remember them.”
“Oh, I couldn’t do that!” Fay laughed.
“Why not? This is valuable genealogical information. You don’t want it to get lost.”
“I couldn’t do that. You should ask my brother Connal. He remembers all that sort of thing.”
Reyna bristled. “You don’t say that because you’re a woman, do you? You’re just as entitled to record your recollections in your family history as any man.”
Fay smiled at her. “I don’t say it because I’m a woman. I just don’t feel like it. That’s all. If I had the inclination to record my recollections, nothing would stop me from doing it and including it in the family records. I have no such inclination. That’s the only reason I don’t do it.”
Reyna bent over her papers, but Rose couldn’t miss the frown on her face.
Rose went in search of Tanner. She headed for the passage leading to his room when she met Ben coming the other way. She turned around and walked with him back to the central hall. “How is everything going between you and Asya?”
“Everything is going fine between me and Asya. Thanks for asking.”
“Don’t you think you two are getting a little too close?”
He grinned at her. “I don’t think there is such a thing as ‘too close’ when it comes to a girl like Asya. I’ll get as close to her as I can. I’ll never back down unless she tells me to, and she hasn’t told me to yet, so I’ll just keep going.”
“I think that may not be the wisest course, Ben. You should back off a little. Get to know her better before you jump in, boots and all.”
He laughed. “I’m already in boots and all, and I already know her as well as I need to. I won’t back off, no matter what you say, and you should stick to your own business, unless you’re trying to make me mad. I told you that before.”
“I heard what you told me. You told me to leave you alone with her, and that’s what I did. Only now I see you two together all the time. I see you sitting together and talking at meals and afterwards in the evenings. I can only imagine how much time you’re spending with her during the day when the team and I are working.”
“I spend all my time with her. So far, she goes back to her own room to sleep at night. She kisses me outside my door and leaves. If I had my way, I would spend every minute of the day and night with her. I would never be parted from her, but that will come in time. I just have to be persistent.”
Rose stopped him with her hand on his arm. “Don’t do this, Ben. You could be letting yourself in for a world of hurt, and I would hate to see that happen to you. Back off from Asya, at least until you find out more about her. Take my word for it, as your mother.”
His anger flared. “I know a lot more about Asya than you think I do. I know more about Asya than you know about Rohn.”
Rose stiffened. “What about Rohn?”
“I’m not stupid, Mom. I see the way you act around him, and I see the way you talk to him. You want him, if you haven’t gone and taken him already. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did, but don’t go telling me I could get hurt and to back off from Asya when you’re doing the same thing.”
Rose wilted. “I won’t lie to you. There was something going on between me and Rohn, but it’s over now.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. I found out something about him, and I won’t have anything to do with him again—at least, not in that way. I’ll keep working with him to document everything about Kratak and Clan Harkniss, but I won’t be personally involved with him again. I hope you’ll think twice about getting involved with Asya. You could be in for a shock when you find out the truth about her.”
“Let me guess. You found out Rohn is a dragon. That’s why you broke off with him, isn’t it?”
Rose stared at him. He couldn’t have surprised her more if he’d hit her over the head with a shovel. “What did you say?”
“I thought that’s what it was. I know all about it.”
“You do?” She couldn’t get her head around this.
“Of course, I do. I know the Krataks are dragons, and they can shift from dragon to person and back again at will. Is that what you’re so concerned about me finding out, because if it is, you have nothing to worry about.”
“How did you find out?”
“Asya told me, that day we saw the dragon fly over our heads. After you left, I asked why she wasn’t afraid of it. She told me the dragon is her uncle Rahni, and she told me everything.”
“Have you seen her in her dragon form?”
“Of course I have. She changed right in front of me.”
“And what was it like? What did you think when you saw her like that?”
He gazed into the far distance. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. Her skin was the most beautiful burnished gold, and her eyes! I couldn’t stop looking at her. I wish she could be like that all the time. I love her that way.”
Rose shook herself. “If you know all that, then you must understand how important it is to keep this a secret.”
“She explained everything to me. She explained how the Krataks want to keep this a secret from the Allies in case they decide to invade. To tell you the truth, Mom, I’m surprised Rohn told you the secret. The Krataks consider you the most dangerous member of the whole team.”
Rose blushed. “I know they do, and Rohn didn’t exactly tell me, but he’s trusting me to keep this secret and I take that responsibility very seriously. You can’t imagine how this secret weighs on me, and now that you know the truth, I’m worried about you. What if you cave in and tell someone?”
“The only person I would have to tell is you, and now that you know, I have no one else to tell. I won’t have any problem keeping the secret, but like Asya said, you’re the weakest link here. If you fail, the whole thing comes crashing down. If there’s someone to worry about, it’s you.”
Rose blinked at him. “What has happened to you? You’ve changed since we came to this planet. I don’t even recognize you anymore. You used to be such a mild-mannered boy, and now....”
He stood tall and certain before her and waited for her to finish, but her words died on her lips. “I’m becoming a man, Mom.”
“You’re becoming dominant, like the men of Kratak.”
“That’s right. I never knew a man could be like this. The men among the Allies are so different, I was never sure I really wanted to be a man. Sometimes I wished I could be a woman so I could be a general or a Senator. Now that I know men like this exist, I want to be a man. I want to be a man like Rohn and Damen and Callan. It’s the most natural way for a man to act.”
“You can never be a man like that among the Allies. You’ll have to change if you want to go back.”
“Then I won’t go back. I’ll stay here.”
Rose gasped out loud. “You can’t do that! You have to come back at the end of the year when this mission ends.”
“I don’t have to do anything. I’m a man, and I’ll make my own decisions. This is the kind of man that Asya wants, so that’s what I’ll become. She wouldn’t have me if I didn’t act like her father and her uncles, and she won’t come back to the Allies.”
Rose groaned. “Please don’t do this, Ben. Please, think about what you’re doing.”
“I have thought about it, and I won’t be any other man. This is me, Mom. If you don’t want to accept it, it’s all over between us.”