Page 77 of Star Champion

That brought Klark up short. “I can’t leave now. Not with all this about to hit.”

“Bah. Did you not listen to anything I said? You need to go follow your heart, young man. It matters not whether you are at the palace while we work on this. In fact, standing with your shunned champion shows you believe in her, and in your team. I have the best connections to deal with this problem from here. The influence. The respect. I’ve lived this life for far longer than you. I can also handle Rorrik. You know me, Klark. You know I’ve never turned away from a fight. I will relish this.”

Klark had never seen Uncle Yul look so passionate and full of determination. His instincts told him to trust this new and fervent ally, that together they would solve this debacle. Uncle Yul from the palace, and Klark from Barésh. “I had better tell you what I know, then, sir.” He filled his uncle in on his pros wanting to speak to the press, the rising frustration of the fans, and even the failure so far to find supporting evidence for their cause in the Treatise of Trade. “That’s everything,” he said finally.

They stopped on the path. “Go take your run, young man, as you are dressed for it. I’ll get started on this. I expect you gone by morning.”

“I will be gone by tonight.”

His uncle’s hard lips gentled some before he turned back toward the palace, his boots crunching on the surface of the path. It almost could have been a smile.

“Klark!” Katjian exclaimed when she opened the door to her quarters. Her hair was brushed loose and long, and it left her looking very young. Little more than a child, actually. It set off Klark’s brotherly protective instincts. He thought of the family’s pressure to marry her off. Prince Hajhani or any other hopefuls had better back off, he thought darkly. It would not happen unless Kat was willing. Not on his watch.

“I’m leaving for Barésh,” he said.

“You’re leaving? Again?” Happiness drained out of her expressive face. “Why? You only just came home. How long will you be gone? What will you be doing? Where are you going? I heard about Sea Kestrel. Why did he leave the team? Please tell me what happened. I watched every match the team played.”

And he considered Jemm a master interrogator? His sister would give her a run for her money. “Answers in private.” He took her by the elbow and steered her back into her suite. Her lady’s maid was tidying up scattered clothing.

At Klark’s appearance, she snapped upright. “Your Highness.”

“I would like a moment alone with the princess, please.”

The maid made a quick exit. Then Klark turned to Katjian. “I need a favor.”

She seemed to bloom with his request. “Yes, of course,” she breathed.

“You’ve been researching the Treatise of Trade, looking for answers whether or not females may play bajha. Yes?”

“Yes. I study it every morning. Why?” Her luminous pale eyes scoured his face for clues.

“Have you discovered anything yet?”

She shook her head. “Not anything that specific, no.”

Ah, well. It had been worth a shot. Failing to find support in the ancient document would not change the nature of the fight he and Uncle Yul were about to undertake, but it would add credibility to it.

“Actually, there is one thing.” Her expression brightened. “In the saga of Queen Keera’s flight from Eireya, when she escaped the massacre with the young prince Chéya in the Dark Years, there is much written about her dangerous journey. In book two of the Flight Saga, verse seventeen or eighteen, I can’t remember off the top of my head, it says that along the way the queen had to…” Katjian scrunched her eyes in concentration. “‘Lay waste to those who sought to deny her a safe haven.’ I’m trying to form an argument that those words—lay waste—meant that she called upon her personal warrior skills to fight off warlords. And if she possessed warrior skills, then it follows that other females could possess warrior skills, and thus the practice of bajha is needed in order to hone those skills. But I have more research to do.”

Hope ignited inside Klark. “Lay waste…” Only two words in a vast tome spanning untold millennia, but it was two more words than he could claim before—two words that might make all the difference. “The person who saved our family was female. Queen Keera of the Vedlas. If she had been too meek to escape the palace, to fight her way to safety, the entire Vedla line would have ended in the massacre. She survived, and her bloodlines survived, because she was a warrior. A warrior, Kat. I don’t know why I never saw it before. You need to go tell Uncle Yul what you’ve discovered right away.”

She looked at him as if he had grown a third eye. “Are you feeling all right?”

“Yes. More right than I can possibly explain.” He sighed deeply. “I’m going to trust you with a secret, dear Kat. And you must promise to keep it.”

“I promise.”

“Swear on the blood of Clan Vedla.”

“The blood of Clan Vedla,” she repeated gravely. It reminded him of when he and his brother Ché were children. They would get into mischief, and often had to force their little sister to keep secrets after discovering she was witness to it all. She had never once leaked anything to their parents.

“Sea Kestrel is…a female.”

The blood drained from her face and returned in a rush, turning her cheeks pink as her eyes flew open wide. Her clever mind was churning with all the possibilities his surprise raised; he could sense it. “That’s why she can no longer compete,” she said.

He nodded. “My goal is to get the decision reversed and return Kes Aves to the ring in time for Team Eireya to win the Galactic Cup. We don’t have a lot of time. Uncle Yul is taking charge of the matter here at home, while I rejoin with Jemm.”

“Jemm.” She lifted an inquisitive brow, her grin turning sassy. “That’s a pretty name. Is Jemm Kes?”

---