y believed
in any of Terra's gods." The hot mug between his hands gave off
cinnamon-flavored steam. "I'm not very good at taking things on
faith."

"On faith? Your gods provide no evidence?" Daria's voice held faint
disapproval. "They must be inferior gods, then."

Tarlac had to agree. "Yeah. The Circle of Lords doesn't leave much
room for doubt, does it? No wonder Hovan thought I was naive."

He took a drink of his chovas, enjoying the warmth amid his troubled
thoughts. He didn't see any alternative to accepting the Lords'
reality, like it or not. And he didn't particularly like it. Gods who
took an active part in mundane affairs introduced an uncertainty factor
that he found unsettling at best. "Why haven't they helped you win the
war, though?" he asked.

Daria smiled sadly. Apparently Language hadn't been the only thing the
Lords taught him; he was reading her expression easily. "Who can say
what motivates a god? We can only hope that their intervention now,
through you, will save some of us."

"Yeah." Tarlac sipped again at his chovas. "Look, will you explain
something for me?"

"If I can. What is it?"

"What in--" Tarlac hesitated, modified what he was going to say.
"What does a Ranger taking the Ordeal have to do with ending the war?"

Daria was silent for a moment, then she smiled again, easily, at the
Ranger's almost aggrieved tone. "Ruhar, you must have noticed that all
officers and high-status males are n'Cor'naya. There is a reason for
that; we have so many that there must be a way to select the most
capable, courageous, and honorable. The Ordeal has done that for many
millennia, though it changed when Lord Sepol was called to the Circle.

"If the war is to be ended with honor, it must be done by someone who
has high status on both sides. As a Ranger, you already have that in
the Empire; once you pass the Ordeal, you will also be able to
negotiate a peace agreement as a Cor'naya."

Tarlac frowned. "Any agreement that will work can't involve you . . .
surrendering"--he had to use the English word--"since that's something
you can't do. With the way your people fight, and with us winning as
decisively as we are, that is not going to be easy. Will the Lords
help me there?"

"I cannot tell you," Daria said, frowning in her turn, perhaps at the
unfamiliar word. "They have remained unresponsive; I can only pray
that they will. But you must not count on it, for they give no m