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affiliation against our own. The Zeikas had made it clear that they wanted to slaughter all Kriites, or enslave us to build their own power.
    In Reltland there were hundreds of Rada slaves, performing duties that required animal labour or communication over great distances. Their interest in the Anzaii was possibly something more sinister.
    ‘That traitor, Flale,’ I muttered. ‘He and his daughter will stop at nothing to secure their position.’
    ‘So you heard about Princess Denliyan’s lack of pregnancy?’ Ivon said, chortling. ‘Reckon it must be that husband of hers, Joram. Seems a flaccid sort of fellow.’
    ‘I’ve never been to Telby,’ I replied. ‘Never seen any of them.’
    ‘And may the Lightmaker spare you from all their noble filth,’ a new voice said. It was Cradic, a forty-something transformation trainer with family living in Telby.
    While we had been speaking, other Rada-kin had come out to meet Rekala. She was now surrounded by eleven other animals. Her thoughts were filled with their thoughts; I did my best to filter them out.
    ‘That princess, though, she is a dish,’ Ivon exclaimed. ‘Willowy, smooth-skinned….’
    Cradic shook his head in a friendly manner. ‘You have to find yourself a wife, Ivon.’
    As if on cue, a young brunette woman called to Ivon from the other side of the village centre. He winked at us and went over to her.
    ‘Talon,’ Cradic said, ‘I hope you’re ready for today’s lesson. Bessed told me you only just met your Rada-kin a few days ago. You might consider giving it some more time before you learn to morph.’
    ‘We’re ready now,’ I replied.
    Rekala extracted herself from the group of Rada-kin and padded to my side. Together, we entered the hall. We followed Cradic into a large room with chairs and a table at the front and a large open space beyond. Hanging from the ceiling beside the table were five life-sized skeleton paintings—a human, a cat, a dog, a goat and a rabbit. There were stuffed animals on pedestals all around the room, and skeletons on the shelves that lined the walls. The skeletons had only been natural animals, not kindred—we buried our precious Rada-kin in the ground after death, like humans. The floor was made of stone, but half of it was covered in straw and rushes for the comfort of the animals. It smelled like a barn.
    I nodded to the other three new Rada and seated myself behind them. Rekala sat close beside me, her head touching my arm. Cradic moved to the front of the room where he welcomed each of us and asked us to introduce our new Rada-kin. Two of the others weren’t named yet: a hawk and a capybara. The third was a black horse who had accepted the name Shadow from his Rada. He was an impressive creature, but I could tell the other humans were more in awe of Rekala. The few icetigers who appeared throughout Jaria’s history were revered hunters and warriors. Does a quartermaster need such a mighty Rada-kin? I wondered.
    Cradic held up the lower leg bone of a cat.
    ‘Who can tell me which bone in the human body becomes this bone during a transformation to cat?’
    One of the others pointed to his forearm.
    Cradic clapped his hands. ‘Now, which bone does a tail come from?’
    ‘The back bone gets longer?’ one of the students suggested.
    Cradic shook his head. We looked at each other, dumbfounded.
    ‘There are many differences between the human body and the body of an animal. So where does the missing material come from and where do the extra parts go when we transform into the body of an animal?’
    ‘Isn’t it the waves?’ I asked. ‘I always thought that’s where our clothing and gear went as well.’
    ‘Precisely,’ Cradic said, ‘but how do you use the waves to control this? How do you tell your body what it needs to gain and what it needs to let go of? How do you do that?’
    ‘Isn’t that what we’re here to learn, Master?’ the youngest student asked. His capybara was sniffing around the room,