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“I don’t think so, sister’s son,” the older man hissed. “She’s not going anywhere. None of you are until the Ancient passes judgment.”

  “What right have you—?” Truth began but he was interrupted by a vast rush of wind that nearly put the fire out. A creature like the ones that had attacked Truth and Far, but bigger than either of them, landed to one side of the clearing, obscuring Becca’s view of her men for a moment. Then it dwindled magically down into a bent old man with bright eyes, leaning on a cane.

  “Ancient.” Truth’s uncle bowed low and then yanked Becca by the hair, forcing her to her knees. “Bow before the Ancient, wrex!”

  Becca tried but she was shivering miserably and besides, it was really hard to bow with his fingers tangled in her hair, dragging her head back.

  “Let me go!” she gasped, struggling against his cruel grip. He wasn’t that much bigger than her and she was tired of being called what amounted to a whore in the Rai’ku dialect.

  “Yes, T’lar—let her go.” The little old man who Truth’s uncle had called the Ancient, came hobbling forward, leaning on his cane. When he got closer, Becca saw that he was wearing a pure white cloak that matched his bushy white hair and beard. Bright blue eyes peered at her from an incredibly wrinkled face. “Let go now. There is no need to brutalize this female child,” he said gently.

  The grip in Becca’s hair tightened.

  “I am only treating her like the wrex she is, Ancient. She deserves much worse than this for what she has been doing.”

  “I will be the judge of that matter.” The old man put out a gnarled hand and Becca heard Truth’s uncle give a sharp cry of pain. Abruptly the fingers were withdrawn from her hair and she was able to lift her head again without someone yanking it back.

  She breathed a sigh of relief and put a hand to her aching scalp. “Th-thank you,” she said in a trembling voice.

  “Do not thank me yet, child. This matter is far from resolved. Now go to your mate.” He gave her a gentle nudge towards Truth and she stumbled to her feet and ran around the fire to get to him.

  “Rebecca!” The dark twin folded her in his arms at once and Becca pressed her face to his chest and tried not to sob.

  “It’s all right,” he said in a low voice. “I swear it’s going to be all right.”

  “How?” Becca tried to draw comfort from his arms around her but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was dreadfully wrong—that something was missing.

  It was Far, she realized, when she looked up and saw his large form sagging between Truth and Garron. He was still on his feet but she didn’t see how—he was clearly out of it. She could barely feel him at all through their link and without him, nothing was right or complete. Our OneMind is broken, she realized and knew it was true. The close connection she and her men had just started to share had been cut by a third.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Truth in a low voice. “Why are we here? What are they going to do to us?”

  “Depends on what the Ancient says,” he muttered back. “It’s best to be quiet and listen.”

  They didn’t have long to wait. The old man was already pacing around the fire, humming a soft, tuneless song to himself that almost sounded more like a meditation chant to Becca than a deliberate tune. At last he came to a stop before them and raised one bushy white eyebrow.

  “Very well—what has brought you all to me on this night?”

  A babble of voices broke out.

  “These interlopers were profaning our laws!”

  “They were sharing a single female between them!”

  “They have been seen defacing and molesting the elder trees!”

  “Enough. Enough!” The Ancient spoke in a surprisingly strong voice and raised one wrinkled hand to stop the noise. “Now,” he said when everyone was silent. “These are serious charges. I will allow you, Truth, to answer for them each in its turn.”

  “Thank you, Ancient.” Truth bowed his head respectfully.

  “Very well, then. Let us take the most serious charge first—were you in fact molesting the elder trees?”

  “Never,” Truth said. “We were searching for something beneath one—something my Kindred brethren on the Mother Ship desperately need. But we were very, very careful to leave the tree itself unmarked in any way. I have great respect for the elder trees—I would never harm one.”

  The Ancient regarded him for a moment with those bright blue eyes and then nodded. “Very well. I see the truth of your statement. And how do you answer the other charge? That you were, a-hem, sharing a female.”

  “I answer by saying that sharing is a natural part of what I truly am—a Twin Kindred,” Truth answered, lifting his chin. “I was raised here on Pax and for years I strove to become Rai’ku—as much as I could, anyway, when I have no dr’gin within. But recently I have come to know that I am not Rai’ku but Kindred. And as such, I must follow the ways of my true people. That is what Far and Rebecca and I were doing tonight—not that it was any of my uncle’s business.” He glared at T’lar. “But I suppose as he is not one of those who came bursting into Garron’s lodge to drag us out, he feels he has committed no crime.”

  “What?” The Ancient turned to Truth’s uncle with a frown. “Is this true, T’lar? Were these Kindred and their female extracted from a private residence?”

  “Well…yes.” The uncle was shifting uneasily from foot to foot, his red robes rustling. “But Ancient, they were profaning our laws and sharing a female. Listen to Truth—he doesn’t even deny it! And you know the penalty for such an act.”

  “Yes.” The old man nodded slowly. “Yes, I am well aware of the penalty, T’lar. Do not presume to school me in the laws of our people.”

  “Forgive me, Ancient.” T’lar bowed deeply but Becca thought she saw a smile curving the corners of his thin lips. Her stomach clenched like a slick fist and she pressed closer to Truth. What was going to happen now?

  “The penalty…” The Ancient was pacing around the fire again. “The penalty for sharing a female is death—death for all involved.”

  “No!” Panic crawled up Becca’s throat, choking her. “Oh, no!”

  “Oh yes, my dear.” The Ancient nodded at her. “But I do not choose to impose that penalty tonight—not on all of you, anyway.”

  “Why not?” Truth’s uncle demanded angrily. “What they did is unacceptable—punishable by death! How can you not sentence them all to—”

  “I judge matters here, not you, T’lar.” The Ancient’s voice cracked sharply. “Or would you rather take the Oath of Blood and judge them yourself? If so, why did you disturb me?”

  “Forgive me, Ancient.” T’lar bowed again. “Indeed, I do not wish to take the oath.”

  “Very good. It is a heavy burden, deciding life and death. I do not think it would agree with you.” The Ancient nodded and then looked at Truth and Becca and Far again. “In the past, when two males both wanted the same female, they fought for her—fought to the death. You were not seen sharing her.” He nodded at Becca. “It has only been inferred. Therefore, it is my belief that you are rivals for her affection—not sharers in it.”

  “Ancient,” Truth began, scowling but Garron interrupted him.

  “Yes, Ancient, that is so,” he said quickly.

  “Then a Y’grin—a fight for dominance and your female’s affection is what you shall engage in,” the Ancient said. “The winner will take her away, off planet, never to return to Pax.”

  Becca couldn’t be silent anymore. “And…and the loser?” she whispered.

  “I am sorry, child,” the Ancient said softly. “The loser will die.”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Becca felt like she was either going to cry or throw up.

  My fault, whispered a little voice in her head. This is all my fault.

  For once, she didn’t try to push the guilty little voice away. It was right—completely and utterly right—and she didn’t even try to refute it. Once more she had given in to her