"I did. Delgaun's palace is full of hidden ways, and I know them all. I
was listening behind the panel in the council room. I heard you speak
out against Kynon, and I heard Delgaun's order, just now."
"So?"
"So, if you meant what you said about the tribes, you had better
get away now, while you have the chance. Kynon lied to you. He will
use you, and then kill you, as he will use and then destroy his own
people." Her voice was hot with bitter fury.
Stark gave her a slow smile that might have meant anything, or nothing.
"You're a Valkisian, Fianna. What do you care what happens to the
barbarians?"
Her slightly tilted green eyes looked scornfully into his.
"I'm not trying to trap you, Earthman. I hate Kynon. And my mother was
a woman of the desert."
She paused, then went on sombrely, "Also, I serve the lady Berild, and
I have learned many things. There is trouble coming, greater trouble
than Kynon knows." She asked, suddenly, "What do you know of the
Ramas?"
"Nothing," he answered, "except that they don't exist now, if they ever
did."
Fianna gave him an odd look. "Perhaps they don't. Will you listen to
me, Earthman from Mercury? Will you get away, now that you know you're
marked for death?"