.
Time felt like it was standing still. She could feel the probe sweeping up and down her body, but she had no idea what it was looking for. Ilidi had an inborn ability to sense their own kind, a special adaptation of flux sense. Did their warbeasts have it? Could this one tell she had the genes of another race in her? Most importantly, the genes of their enemy?
After what seemed like a lifetime, the scout unit stopped its scan and stated, simply, “Fellow Ilidi, go safely on your travels.”
The relief washed through her like a wave. But, ‘Fellow Ilidi?’ Nam gave a silent, bitter laugh at that.
In her mind’s eye, she noticed the other scout and the sub-unit suddenly turn away from Jack. They set a course instead in the direction of the larger units, which had also stopped.
She answered, “Fellow Ilidi, thank you. Tell me, why do you continue the fight for Chald? The war with the Gireid is long over. Your duty is done.”
“No stand-down orders have ever arrived from Command. Our duty is to fight until we receive orders.”
A stone formed her heart, a moment of pity for them. They would likely never receive those orders. The Ilidi Command had been utterly destroyed, long ago. But telling them so would be meaningless. An Ilidi is constitutionally unable to betray their duty, as surely as a Gireid is constitutionally unable to betray their family.
Having nothing else she could tell them, she answered, “Fellow Ilidi, if you know your duty, then I can only wish you continued safety.”
“Thank you, fellow Ilidi,” it responded. It faced the opposite direction and took off running, disappearing into the forest.
About five minutes later, guided by the eyes of Ooe, she finally met up with Jack, puzzled by the fact that she couldn’t sense him. He must have understood what was puzzling her from her expression, because he pointed his thumb over his shoulder at his back.
“There’s some kind of ‘form’ there, giving me some kind of stealth,” he explained.
She studied it, finally detecting it through the stealth. A certain Thamadin’s extraordinary skills were very evident in the arcane patterning, as was her meticulous inscription style.
“Simkit put it there?” she asked anyhow.
“Yeah.”
She looked around, but could still sense her nowhere. “Where is she?”
“She’s hurt. I can’t sense her anymore, but she was parleying with the Gireid warbeasts. She didn’t want them to see me, so she sent me back on my own.”
That chilled her quite a bit. For Simkit to take a risk of that level, when Rogan had clearly told her he wanted her to protect the man, she must have been strongly in fear of his life.
She couldn’t sense Simkit anywhere, but of course, the Thamadin was a flux artist genius. Her stealth was excellent, although it badly hampered her mobility and interfered with her other skills, which was why she usually avoided it.
“Were you the one throwing those fireballs?”
“Yeah. It was like the thing I did with Meadhbh. Something was showing me how to do it.”
She shook her head. That kind of direct flux manipulation had always been beyond her. She had forms in her Gedin and une to make up for it, but she was envious of this direct method that Rogan and Jack could do.
That ‘something’ of his was growing more mysterious by the day. How could it teach him such advanced skills? But she still couldn’t believe he was lying about being a beginner at this.
“We need to get back as fast as possible,” he told her. “Rogan needs to know that his wife might need help.”
For a moment, her brain went dizzy, but then she realized who he meant and a single hiccup of laughter escaped her.
“Do not call her that to his face, guardsman.”
“Why?”
She sighed and grew a perplexed smile. How to explain this?
“Well, I shall admit, it is indeed the truth from the viewpoint of Simkit and her wives. Rogan is their husband, and never tell Simkit otherwise, because she is a fiercely loyal wife. But that’s only from Simkit’s side of things.”
The guardsman looked puzzled, and she didn’t blame him. It was a peculiar arrangement, after all.
She explained, “Thamadin males are not numerous, and the war left Thamadin women with very few prospective husbands. Simkit’s grandmother did a great service to Rogan’s clan, so he allowed Simkit and her wives to claim him as their husband. Being properly married gave them the right to access their race’s sperm reserves. Thamadil law requires there be a father before there are children. But from Rogan’s viewpoint, only his Gireidil marriage counts. He thinks of Simkit and her wives as adopted daughters.”
Jack shook his head, with a wry smile. For a moment, she had the mischievous impulse to ask what he had been imagining.
His expression grew somber. “I haven’t been able to sense her in a long time.”
Nam nodded. She’d not been able to sense Simkit since waking up. But that didn’t mean anything, given that woman’s skills.
“She might be stealthing herself, guardsman. Do not worry just yet.”
