Page 94 of Shifter King
"Laachtue? Yes." He nodded. It was something that all his brothers had wondered.
"Well, I am not saying that it is true of her because I don't know her. She seemed brave and good. But you have been so kind to me and I know you aren't from this place. So you might not know these things, and if you don't know, then you can't investigate or protect yourself against it."
"Know what?" QueQoa crossed in front of her. She seemed so concerned, her forehead wrinkled. "You have no reason to apologize."
"Not yet. But if I'm wrong, this could do harm. You might not look at her in the same way. So please remember this might not be true. But many of the Abliato doctors…they—well, some of them experiment on us. They take samples. They do things. I don't know all of it, but I've seen some. And they do offer help. Quite a lot in some cases. My family—when I had family—made the mistake of trusting one."
He halted, his blood chilling. It felt as if someone had thrust a blade against his heart. "You think…"
She shook her head, staring down at her child. "I don't know. I just—I thought about what you said. That your fierce brother is the one who brought her to your family. We've never seen Vawtrians like you. That could be very useful to her, so…please be careful. It is dangerous for Vawtrians to love those who are not like us. We are bound to them forever. They are not. In this, Abliatos and Bealorns are very much alike."
Those words crushed his soul. But they made sense. Naatos had been suspicious of her reasons as well. It was not that people could not do good things, but how often did they without ulterior motives? Laachtue—he didn't know her well, but it didn't seem that she would.
He rubbed his neck as he paced out to the edge of the clearing.
"Are you lost, big man?" A scrawny girl with thin white hair stepped out from between a split aspen. "Or are you waiting on someone?" She leaned to the side, smiling crookedly as she saw Eskiatlo and then lifting her hand in greeting.
"You are Ren, I think. My brother AaQar sent me here." He blinked with shock. She was practically a child.
"AaQar?" Her murky grey eyes brightened as she straightened. "Yes. The big blue dragon. He's your brother?"
"Yes. I have come for two reasons. The first is that this woman was a slave to the Reskals. Her name is Eskiatlo, and her baby's name is Choe. The Reskal Bealorns tried to execute both. My family's home is not a safe place for her. Especially as we prepare for war. But he said that you help Vawtrians find cadres."
Ren stepped around him toward Eskiatlo. "Do you have any family or cadre mates out there?"
"No," she said.
"Can I see the baby?"
When Eskiatlo nodded, Ren stepped closer. Her gaunt face lit up. "Oh, she is a sweet one, isn't she?"
"Yes," Eskiatlo said.
QueQoa glanced around as the two women began to speak, not wanting to intrude. A few others pressed in from the clearing, most small and frail looking. Some had simple knives on their belts. Others had bows strapped on their back or slings fastened to their trousers. A couple lifted their hands in small waves. He returned the gesture and the smile. All were so young. Much younger than he'd imagined.
"Have you come to teach us?" asked another white-haired youth with black freckles over his sun-tanned cheeks.
"To teach you?" QueQoa tilted his head. "To teach you what?" This one might have been forty-seven or sixty-three. Still too young and unhealthy to have to contend with this. He had had to learn far too young as well, but he had had his health and strength as well as his brothers.
"To be Vawtrians."
"Do you know how to fight?" he asked.
"Yes." The somber way the white-haired one said it added years to his thin face. "We know how to fight and run. It's what we do. But if we can do it better, we want to."
"And we will learn to do it better," Ren said, still standing beside Eskiatlo. "You said you had a second request?"
It felt absurd to make it now, but he had promised to make the offer. He had been a child when he had had to fight and steal. He set his hands on his belt, his discomfort growing. "It is an offer which you are welcome to refuse. As has been made clear, you owe us nothing."
Ren's mouth pulled up in a crooked smile as she folded her arms. "Well, that's an interesting way to start a proposition. What is it, big man?"
"Before we take down Darmoste, we are going to contend with the Reskals. We will be making an attack during a wedding to retrieve my brother's veskaro who was stolen. If you wish to join us, we would welcome you."
"Sounds treacherous." Ren gave a small jerk of her head. "Bold. Beautiful. I love it. All of us do. These are—well they're good things to hear about. But no. We won't join forces with you. We wish you all the best, big man. You and your brothers. And we hope you get your Neyeb sister back. But neither Phobos nor I can risk our Golden Foxes. I'm sorry. But the Reskals and the Ulpas and several others have preyed on our cadre and others for decades. It's all we've been able to do to stay alive. And not that you won't be successful, but if we get marked, well—we've got to protect our own."
"I understand," QueQoa said slowly. Not only did he understand, but he agreed. These children had obviously killed before, but it did not settle well with him.
He and his brothers would be able to contend with the Bealorns. They had two nations that had already sided with them, and others might as well.
