Then she noted a queer sensation deep in her heart, among all the other feelings about this, something new—relief. Perhaps it’s good, she thought, that it’s out in the open. It has taken a foreign kirin, this woman from afar, to expose the unholy arrangement we have lived with these many, many years.

    To everyone’s amazement except Lanara’s, Diliani told of Gryglas past and present, of them rescuing and escorting her to what was now known as the Shillitoe cave. She described Silarude and the unfinished business of this underground race.

    “It has been an uneasy truce,” she said. “For a long time Gryglas and Shillitoes have coexisted without overt conflict. But it wasn’t always that way. Long ago Gryglas assaulted Shillito...

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