e_ knows?" Dallisa lowered her hand from her face, where a
bruise was already darkening.

"Miellyn has twice appeared when I was with him. Loose him, Dallisa, and
bargain with him. What we know of Rakhal for what he knows of Miellyn."

"If you think I would let you bargain with _Terranan_," she mocked.
"Weakling, this quarrel is _mine_! You fool, the others in the caravan
will give me news, if you will not! _Where is Cuinn?_"

From a million miles away Kyral laughed. "You've slipped the wrong hawk,
Dallisa. The catmen killed him." His skean flicked loose. He climbed to
a perch near the rope at my wrists. "Bargain with me, Rascar!"

I coughed, unable to speak, and Kyral insisted, "Will you bargain? End
this damned woman's farce which makes a mock of _shegri_?"

The slant of sun told me there was light left. I found a shred of voice,
not knowing what I was going to say until I had said it, irrevocably.
"This is between Dallisa and me."

Kyral glared at me in mounting rage. With four strides he was out of the
room, flinging back a harsh, furious "I hope you kill each other!" and
the door slammed.

Dallisa's face swam red, and again as before, I knew the battle which
was joined between us would be fought to a dreadful end. She touched my
chest lightly, but the touch jolted excruciating pain through my
shoulders.

"Did you kill Cuinn?"

I wondered, wearily, what this presaged.

"Did you?" In a passion, she cried, "Answer! Did you kill him?" She
struck me hard, and where the touch had been pain, the blow was a blaze
of white agony. I fainted.

"Answer!" She struck me again and the white blaze jolted me back to
consciousness. "Answer me! Answer!" Each cry bought a blow until I
gasped finally, "He signaled ... set catmen on us...."

"No!" She stood staring at me and her white face was a death mask in
which the eyes lived. She screamed wildly and the huge _chak_ came
running.

"Cut him down! Cut him down! Cut him down!"

A knife slashed the rope and I slumped, falling in a bone-breaking
huddle to the floor. My arms were still twisted over my head. The _chak_
cut the ropes apart, pulled my arms roughly back into place, and I
gagged with the pain as the blood began flowing painfully through the
chafed and swollen hands.

And then I lost consciousness. More or less permanently, this time.

CHAPTER NINE

When I came to again I was lying with my head in Dallisa's lap, and the
reddish color of sunset was