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withwhich she d negotiated the complex
Karganese tenses, but froma few soft giggles toward the front of the boat, she
guessed shehadn t gotten them right after all.
One of the older children, who would be hunting within the nextyear, ducked
his head diffidently and said,  You mean, If you see him before I do. 
 That s what I said, isn t it?
The child shook his head and said,  You said,  If yousee him before I do. 
Danya sighed. She couldn t hear the difference. She dalways thought she had a
good ear for languages, and she dspent much of her life learning the handful
of major tongues thatserved
Ibera, but the subtleties of Karganese eluded her.
 Say it again, she said.  Your way. The right way.
The child s ears perked forward, and he repeated thephrase. Danya said,  Now
say what I said.
The child flicked his ears back and tipped his head and saidexactly the same
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thing he had said before. Danya heard nodifference at all. None.
 I don t hear it, she said.
She d learned the Kargan face that meant puzzlement  lifted upper lip, lowered
brow, fur around the eyes erect so thatthey seemed in imminent danger of
disappearing.  Hear? the child asked. Now the other cubs began to giggle.
The Karganese were polite to the point of pain sometimes.She d had the feeling
before that she was missing somethingimportant when she spoke; she got that
puzzled look more often thanshe could explain. But none of the adults would
admit she was doinganything wrong. They invariably ascribed their puzzlement
to theirown stupidity.
Perhaps she would be able to get something out of the kids, whodidn t seem as
inclined to call themselves stupid.
 What am I doing wrong
? she asked.  Idon t understand.
She looked at the kid and he looked back.
He flicked his ears forward.  If you see him before Ido. He flicked his ears
back and tipped his head to the side. If you see him before I do. He flicked
his earsforward.  If you see him before I
do. He flicked hisears back and tipped his head.  If you see him before Ido.
She was staring at him, suddenly beginning to comprehend thescale of what she
had been missing. She swiveled her own huge earsforward and made sure she kept
her head straight, and she said, If you see him before I do. She swiveled her
ears backand tipped her head.  Not,  If you see him before Ido. 
The kid grinned.  Almost. But it s. . . He perked his ears stiffly
forward. Like that, not . . . He relaxed themslightly.
She groaned.  What s the difference?
He shrugged, a gesture that meant the same thing to him that itdid to her.  My
way is right, yours was . . . ah. . . rude.
That was the way of it. The kids would tell her what she didwrong, but
couldn t explain why. The adults probably couldhave explained why, but were
too polite to admit that shewasn t perfect.
Now she knew why they never looked away fromeach other s faces when they
talked. Now she knew, too, thatshe had a second language she would have to
learn, and perfectly,if she was ever going to communicate with the Kargans the
way sheneeded to. A woman who could not speak fluently could not raise anarmy
with eloquence, and Danya had nothing but eloquence with whichto move her
adopted people.
She was resolving to never look away from the face of a speakeragain when more
giggles roused her from her reverie. She glanced atthe children, and saw them
looking ahead, to the bluff they djust left behind. She d been paddling in a
circle.
With a sigh, she shifted the paddle and fought the boat back toher original
heading.
Revenge would take time. Lucky for her it was the one thing shehad in
abundance.
Chapter
27
T
he Z tatnean blade-hulled ketchslipped along the last stretch of the north
coast of Goft, itstriangular sail making the most of the sparse night winds.
Blackagainst black in the cloud-
blanketed night, it drew no notice fromthe tenders of the watchfires on shore.
Its destination was notCalimekka s great harbor, but rather a rocky bit of
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shorelinefifty leagues to the north of the city. There it would drop itscargo;
then it would return to Z tatne.
Its cargo, huddled in the bottom of the ketch and dressed instolen Salbarian
paint and finery, conversed in hushedwhispers.
 It s going to be a long way to walk with us dressedlike the gods damned
harem dancers. That was Yanth, whohadn t been happy since he had to paint
over his cheek scars,and who didn t think the baggy, stiff, broidery-laden
fashionsof the Salbarians flattered his lean frame, and who had gotten loudand
threatened violence when Dùghall hacked off his long hair. I d rather sail
into the bay and take my chances atbeing recognized than prance down the coast
in this ridiculouscostume.
Kait studied him. She found herself liking Ry s firstlieutenant, even if the
man did stand loyally in the Sabir camp. The Salbarians always pack their
goods overland from Amleri.If we go into
Calimekka through the west gates, we ll just bemore of what the guards see
every day. No one will notice us; noone will remember us. If we sail into the
bay, we might as wellpaint, Look at me, I don t belong here, on ourfaces.
 How can it matter that much? Yanth asked.  Whowill pay any attention to a
bunch of traders?
Dùghall laughed.  Spoken like a fighter. If theydon t carry swords, they must
be invisible.
 I
am a fighter. Not that anyone will believe itnow. He snorted.  Looking like
this, not even my bladebrothers would know me. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]