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to them?
    “ I've picked up a bit of Ausir, Kamen.” Ruben rolled the heels of his
hands together. “Not much, mind, but what with their war, I've had my run-ins
with them.”
    “ Then by Abrexa's River, tell them that I shall not permit them to
sail after their foes. I'll have none of their war here.”
    Ruben nodded.
“Will do.”
    How well Ruben
conveyed his decision Kamen did not know, but he guessed it was rude at best.
Kamen preferred a bit more subtlety in breaking bad news to people, but the
situation was what it was. He had to make the best of it. Besides, he had four
warships to their one, and he was sure the Kimereth could not sink them all,
even if they wanted to.
    “ Tell them to turn north. After that, I don't care.”
    Ruben stuttered
over a few incomprehensible words, and the Kimereth captain went berserk. Kamen
almost thought he saw the Ausir's eyes flash red—proper red—in his wrath. If
Kamen did not control the situation, people were going to die. He needed to
talk to the Ausir. If only Saerileth were here.
    Saerileth. The
Dimadan, where the Lotuses lived.
    Kamen whirled
Ruben around. "The Zenji."
    "Sire?"
    "The
Dimadan isn't far from here. Tell them we'll all sail there and talk."
    Ruben studied
Kamen's face and then thumbed back toward Arinport. "Why not talk to them
here?"
    "And bring
two bloodthirsty rival Ausir houses under my roof? No, thanks. Besides, we need
neutral ground." There were no diplomatic relations between the Sunjaa and
the Ausir.
    Ruben squinted
back across the water toward the galleon. "They ain't going to want to
go."
    Kamen pointed
up at the flag of the Ur-Ahnok House. "Tell them King Jahen commands
it."
    Ruben cleared
his throat, licked his lips, and called out to the Kimereth ship. As he
stumbled through his message, the Ausir captain's face morphed from rage to
disbelief, and he bent his baleful gaze on Kamen. He must have guessed that
Kamen was the one in charge, and his next act would be based on his appraisal
of the man. Kamen crossed his arms over his muscular chest. He lowered his chin
and let his eyelids fall halfway across his eyes. His expression grew taut
under the Ausir's stare, but Kamen did not break. He neither smiled nor
frowned. He just waited.
    The Ausir said
one word to Ruben, and after a long pause, he pointed south and added something
else.
    "He
agrees," Kamen said, guessing, "but he wants the Losiengare to be
made to come, too."
    Ruben nodded.
"Yep."
    "Send two
warships to intercept and escort the caravels to the Dimadan." Kamen
turned on his heel and flashed Ruben a wide grin. "We'll all sail like
one, big, happy fleet to see the Zenji."
    ****
    Night's veil
blanketed the sky when the Sunjaa and Ausir ships anchored off the wide,
shallow bay of the Dimadan. The distant, forest-covered mountains of the
island, mysterious masses of shadow, rose into the darkness, and between the
foothills and the beach the lights of fires and lanterns dotted the landscape,
evidence of the Zenji city. Heavy clouds invisible in the gloom blotted out the
moons, and little could be seen. Kamen and Ruben lowered away in a small boat
and rowed toward land. When they arrived, they found the Kimereth captain—along
with some of his sailors—there waiting for them. Their eyes glowed in the
darkness, and though it surprised Kamen, he retained his composure.
    "Not a word
about the eyes," he whispered through the side of his mouth to Ruben.
    The two Sunjaa
stomped across the wet sand to where the Kimereth stood and waited with smirks
on their faces. What was so funny?
    The Kimereth
captain looked up. "When Kerolebos and Kerolindos hide, Men do not
see." He spoke in the Fihdal tongue. He had let Kamen gesture and talk
through a translator like an idiot. Kamen would not forget it.
    The Sunjaa Regent
smiled. "This is the Dimadan, home of the Zenji people. Doubtless they have
news of our arrival. Someone will be here soon."
    The Ausir
captain's lip curled. By stating the