idn't seem right that Steve had succeeded
so well in the Ordeal only to be denied knowing the peace he'd endured
it to bring about.

He saw a preliminary flicker of blue and closed his eyes against the
expected glare. When seconds passed without it he opened them again,
and saw instead gentle blue radiance pulsing from Steve's body.

For a moment he was stunned, unable to believe what it meant. Such
things belonged in Speakers' histories, not in life!

Then, slowly, he smiled and nodded to himself. Steve, the human Ranger
who had become a Cor'naya in hopes of helping both races, fearing but
accepting death for that goal--yes, Steve deserved to complete the
Circle of Lords if anyone did.

Yarra and Daria had returned for the Transformation. Hovan exchanged
glances with his Ka'ruchaya, but the Speaker stood motionless, her
expression one of exaltation--until the radiance vanished and Steve sat
up, his wounds healed, swinging his legs over the altar's edge and
standing up. Then Daria bowed, hands formally crossed over her chest,
and Hovan and the rest of the clan followed suit.

Tarlac watched, without pleasure, his n'ruhar's display of awed
reverence--no, outright worship. It was the Traiti way, and necessary
to them; his personal dislike of it was irrelevant. To the clan that
had adopted him, the people he cherished, he was a god, one of the
Circle of Lords--as the new, twelfth statuette which had materialized
on every altar showed. He could only accept the homage.

But he was also still of Ch'kara. After a long moment, he said, "Okay,
I've changed, but that's enough. We're still n'ruhar."

They straightened, still radiating awe. Tarlac could sense the clan
both as an empathic entity and as the individuals composing it:
Ka'ruchaya Yarra's joy that one of her n'ruesten had been chosen to
complete the Circle, Daria's exultation and love for him and their
daughter, Hovan's deep pride that it was he who had adopted and then
sponsored the Ranger . . . even unformed pleasure from the youngling in
Daria's body, already a part of the clan's emotional life. Finally he
knew exactly what a Traiti clan really was, and how privileged he'd
been to be adopted by this one.

It was time now to give them their full heritage, with safeguards he
hadn't expected to have when he first made the Decision his Ordeal had
demanded. He sensed the other Lords' invisible presence as they
prepared to watch over the enormous numbe