A beacon. The thought struck her forcibly as she reached the top and cautiously stood next to the stone. The megalith dwarfed her, standing three times her width and twice her height. Just above her eye level, embedded within the stone, gleamed the blood-red point. She placed her hand on the stone, next to it, and felt the roughened texture of rock on her skin. But the rock was warm, and the barest pulse throbbed through it, blending with the beat of her heart. She slid her hand across its surface until she covered over the tiny depression within which the point of light lay winking.
The stone gave off an exhalation, like an old woman's tired sigh. Warm air brushed her face. She felt dizzy, disoriented, until she realized that the rock face was pulling away from her, opening. The ground moved, and she stared down into the earth, down a flight of stairs that led-
That led wherever the Chapalii had gone. A ghostly blue light emanated up from the depths.
Tess put a foot on the first step. A hand closed on her shoulder from behind, and she froze. A thin, hard hand, preternaturally strong, and with it, the scent of cinnamon, distinctive and strong. She knew it was a Chapalii before she even attempted to turn.
From below, drifting on the warm draft that rode up the stairs, she heard the low double chime of 'signal received,' Chapalii standard, and then a voice.
'Progress received. Continue observation of Soerensen. Proceed with caution. Do not act rashly.'
A shadow obscured the light from below. 'Wa-sen. You were ordered to eliminate intruders.' The voice was harsh but inflected as merchant to steward.
'Honorable. I beg to ask pardon, but-'
'Who is this?' The Chapalii halted three steps below Tess and stared.
'Who is this?' asked Tess, coldly formal.
'I beg a thousand pardons, Lady Terese. A thousand, thousand pardons. Your welfare alone precipitated my arrival. I beg you to allow me to escort you away before-'
'Garii? What is this commotion?'
Under his breath, Garii cursed.
'Move aside,' said the third Chapalii, who could only be Ishii. Tess laid a hand over her Chapalii knife and backed up, forcing the steward behind her to back up as well, until all four of them stood in the chill air of midnight. The stone closed behind them as soon as they were free of the threshold.
'My God. This is a transmitting station. How did this get here?'
No one replied. The steward kept his hand on her shoulder. His sweet-smelling breath tickled her cheek. In the distance, a bird shrieked, and a rodent's squeal arced and cut off.
'Lady Terese,' said Ishii. 'I solicit your permission to speak.'
'I want an explanation. When did you build this? Why is it here?'
'I regret that I am not at liberty to speak further on this matter, Lady Terese.'
'You are not at liberty? I command you, Cha Ishii.'
'I regret, Lady Terese, that I am commanded by a higher authority than your own on this matter.''
'If that is so, then why did this higher authority not request permission of the duke to travel on this planet?'
'I submit, Lady Terese, that such permission would have been denied.'
'If that is so, Cha Ishii, then why did this higher authority not command permission to travel?'
Another Chapalii appeared out of the dark. They surrounded her on all sides now. The hand gripping her shoulder relaxed and released her, but even standing without restraint, she knew they had her trapped.
'I regret, Lady Terese,' replied Ishii, his tone so well-modulated that she could detect no emotion in it at all, 'that I am unable to unravel the thinking of those who station outranks my own. I beg you to leave now, and to believe that both your suspicion and your fear of us remain unfounded, and to recall that your own actions brought you to this pass, not any act of ours. Perhaps you will permit Hon Garii to escort you back to the camp.'
What could she do? Charge past them down the stairs? What if this confrontation had already attracted notice?
Rhui's interdiction was already breached. To draw the jahar's attention now was to compromise the interdiction even further, and in a more fundamental way. And what had Garii said,' 'to eliminate intruders?'' What if Fedya came looking for her? If Yuri was on watch?
'I will go, Ishii.' She dropped the honorific to let him know she was displeased. Lord, what choice did she have? His face was a pale shadow in front of her, the standing stone a huge blot behind him. All four Chapalii bore knives at their belts. Behind Ishii, the red light blinked on, and off, and on, and off-and did not come on again.
'Transmission has ceased,' said a faint, disembodied voice that emanated from the stone itself.
'Hon Garii.' Tess inclined her head, acknowledging him. The stewards retreated, and Ishii clasped his hands in front of himself in that arrangement known as Lord's Obedience.
She let Garii escort her to the base of the hill. 'I will go alone,' she said, not wanting to be seen with any Chapalii.
'Lady Terese.' Garii hesitated. 'I beg of you to let me offer you my thanks. Cha Ishii-' Hearing his hesitation, again, Tess wondered what color his face was, what emotion his level voice hid. 'You concealed the knife.'
'I did.'
'My gratitude is yours, Lady Terese, if you will accept it. More than that-'
'Garii.' From above, Ishii's voice called, carrying on the breeze.
'I accept,' said Tess. Garii bowed and backed away up the hill. 'I accept,' Tess murmured, and wondered what it was she had accepted. 'You speak the language well enough,' she said to herself in Anglais, 'but you don't understand a damned thing about their culture, not really.'
A blue glow cast a faint nimbus of light around the stone, and then, like mist, dissipated into the cold darkness. Tess shivered. Would they really kill to protect their secrets? The knife felt warm against her fingers, storing energy within. The night was utterly still.
She skirted the hill, walked halfway around it, looking up, before she turned her steps back to camp. Darkness curled in around her, and she felt suddenly alone, isolated, lost beyond finding. It had stood before her, an illegal transmitter station built by the Chapalii on a planet on which they were prohibited from setting foot, a planet deeded to the human they could never trust. Some conspiracy against Charles-that must be their purpose here. But to what end? What did they hope to accomplish? And she had failed to investigate this transmitter, been caught at it like the merest amateur.
Why couldn't Charles understand? Why couldn't he adopt a new heir, someone suited to the task? The Chapalii recognized adoption; it was legal, it was binding. She would never shirk her duty. But surely there was some other way for her to serve the cause. Why couldn't he see how un-suited she was? What if she was forced to take over from him? She would destroy everything he had accomplished so far.
Around the curve of the next hill, with the megalith hidden behind her, the distant glint of the campfire drew her eye. Her feet caught on some imperfection of ground, and she stumbled.
The watcher rose from where he had been crouched, an abrupt shadow blocking her path. Startled, rising, she lost her balance again and caught herself on one hand and one knee on the ground, frozen, staring up, unable to catch her breath.
'We are going to have a talk,' said Bakhtiian.
CHAPTER TEN
'The eagle has black bones.'
A cloud, trailing up from the horizon, hid the moon. She could not see his face, only the shadowed opacity of his form and a slash of darkness swinging out from his hip-his saber. Behind him, remote shapes moved by the far gleam of campfire. Tess sat down so precipitously that he almost dived for her, checking his movement just in time
