attentionââ
âThe danger is the governorsâ, nìa. They are the ones who wish to secede.â Tsecha leaned against the table, his voice deceptively light. âIf their attempt fails, it does not affect the Elyan Haárin.â
Jani fought the urge to grab Tsecha by the shoulders and shake him. âThalassa, in case youâve forgotten, is in a different situation than the Haárin enclave. Youâll dodge the spray when it hits the fan. Youâll be able to leave. Youâll have a place to go. But what the hell do you think will happen to Thalassa? Weâre hybrids, in a diplomatic no-manâs-landââ She stopped when she heard her voice ring in her ears and saw Tsechaâs shoulders start to curve. âYou could have waited,â she said after her heart slowed and her hands unclenched. âYour treatises. You could have published them some other time.â
âThey are necessary now, nìa.â Tsecha averted his gaze as he spoke, something he seldom did when they stood so close together. âTo alter thinking. To persuade, and enrage.â
âI think you have the âenrageâ part covered.â Jani turned and walked to the other side of the room. âIâm not too sure about âalterâ and âpersuade.ââ She stopped in front of a display niche and plucked a small stone ovoid from its base. âItâs hard to get anyone to listen once tempers overheat,â she said as she hefted the stone. âI should know.â
âI must speak. I must protestââ
âBut why now?â
âYou do notââ
âI donât mean to interrupt.â
Jani and Tsecha both fell silent and looked toward the entryway.
âNà Tsecha. Jan.â Colonel Niall Pierce doffed his brimmed white lid and stepped just inside the room. âJust came from the new meeting house. Checking on preparations for tomorrow.â He wore semiformal kit of dress desertweights, the white tunic and gold-trimmed headgear startling against his tan trousers and sun-baked face. âDodging flying tile shards.â He grinned, the scar that cut his face from his nose to the corner of his mouth twisting the expression into something sinister. âNà Dathim Naré is not happy.â
âDathim is never happy.â Tsecha gestured impatience, the edge of his hand cutting through the air like a blade. âAlways he complains of schedules, of lack of supplies, ofâ¦â
Jani watched Niall, who seemed transfixed by Tsechaâs rant. He knows weâre meeting the governors, but he canât figure out why. She had tried to keep him from getting involved in the security arrangements for the get-together, but he was Admiral General Hiroshi Makoâs man on the spot, and the presence of three high-level colonial officials dictated his participation. Heâll escort them here and wait outside while we talk to them. He wonât be able to find out a thing. She hoped. She prayed.
ââ¦and still, he is not satisfied!â Tsecha stepped around the table and strode to the door. âI will go and speak with him.â He brushed past Niall, barreling through the foyer and into the street. âRidiculous, and trulyâ¦â
Jani stepped outside in time to see the brightly garbed figure vanish down an alley between two houses. Sensed Niall draw alongside, and felt his stare etch the side of her face. âGo ahead and say it.â
âI never thought Iâd see Tsecha grasping for an excuse to get the hell away from you.â Niall set his lid back atop his head, then squared it by running the thumbs and forefingers of both hands back and forth along the brim. âI debatedwhether to go in. Then your voices began carrying and folks stuck their heads out to listen. Decided I had better throw myself on the grenade before they started selling tickets.â
Jani glanced toward a