Bekdi was not as quick to end the conflict. “You speak as though you can read your goddess’s mind.”
Regi sighed. “I have served with Ter for many years. I have never seen a mechanical problem that required more than a few hours of his attention, and now he has been unable to repair a ship in over a month. I know the Lady Divashi holds us here for a reason.”
“You speak to excuse the engineer’s temper.”
Regi’s larger father stepped into the middle of the group. He was an inch or two taller than Bekdi. “All of us have been frustrated enough by our gods to seek to throw a few things. I am lucky that honoring Qis gives me plenty of opportunity to walk through the woods with a large ax and an excuse to wreak havoc on wood. Otherwise our walls might have more holes than have been left by Rel and his habit of flinging non-functioning electronics into stationary objects. But I for one wish to know what you have found, exalteds. Have you found a god touch on another of my son’s crew?”
“Of course not,” Bekdi snapped.
“Regrettably, he is correct,” Gimi added. “If the goddess were to see the crew and not simply the ship, this conflict might have ended more quickly.”
“I don’t think the gods wish to see my ship leave anytime soon,” Regi said. His mother’s expression was almost sympathetic, but Dante figured these people had grown used to being used like pawns in the schemes of their gods. “Officer Vk, we must return to the ship. Do you require assistance getting onto the pebafri?”
She gave the animals tethered to a nearby tree an expression full of despair.
“The steps over here should work,” Dante said with a gesture toward a low wall. He went over and freed the two pebafris’ reins from the tree limb. He soothed Peaches for a moment, stroking her quills to encourage her to lay them flat before any accidents could happen, and then he leaped onto the back of Divashi’s Brown.
Being in the saddle made something hard and cold in the pit of Dante’s stomach relax. He was at home in one, far more than he ever would be with his two feet on the ground. He gathered up the reins and led Vk’s animal over to the wall.
“You know your beast well,” Regi’s larger father said. Since Regi had referred to the smaller father as “Rel,” Dante thought the larger one was Pertin. Kowri tended to fling about a lot of names in a short period of time, and he often had trouble keeping track.
“I grew up riding horses, which are herbivores that look a lot like pebafri,” Dante said.
Gimi gave him a curious look. “Do your people also have freios?”
“We have bears that are almost as large, but much slower and moose that are herbivores and wild cats that are fast and deadly,but they’re not even a fraction of the size, so I think the freio I saw couldn’t compare to anything on earth.”
“You saw a freio?” Rel demanded in a terse voice.
Dante held the pebafri’s reins as Vk clambered on the animal, struggling to avoid sliding off the far side.
Regi’s mother put a hand on her husband’s arm. “I will share that report. The freio escorted the outsider into the temple sanctuary—the cold-weather temple sanctuary.”
Dante knew that was a big deal to the Kowri. Apparently freios were sacred to the god of retribution, who was properly worshiped in the harvest-season temple. No one could pretend it was a coincidence when that enormous predator had shown up at the wrong temple in time to save Regi and Dante.
“I’m happy that I serve my god by carving and not by having to make decisions,” Pertin said with a good-natured smile. “My mistakes can be tossed aside without any harm other than the loss of the time required for me to redo the work. Those of you who have the attention of difficult gods have a much more arduous task.”
“A task made impossible by those who disregard our ways,” Bedki said.
Regi didn’t answer. He walked over to Dante and stood beside Divashi’s Brown. The pebafri wanted to move, and Dante had to take a firm hand to prevent the animal from endangering everyone’s feet by prancing with energy. If he could ensure that only Bekdi a’Gavd’s toes were put in danger, he probably wouldn’t put so much effort into controlling his ride.
“Can I ride behind you?” Regi asked.
Dante held down his hand and braced himself in the stirrups. Regi easily vaulted up behind him, sending Divashi’s Brown tap dancing across the lane. Everyone retreated, even those who had gathered in a wide circle around them. Kowri were wise enough to respect the power of the animals.
“Exalteds,” Dante said with a two-finger tap to his forehead. That felt more respectful than trying to mimic their thumb-touch. Vk had grabbed the front of her saddle, so Dante assumed she would rather him take control of her pebafri. Once Regi had exchanged farewells with the others, Dante wrapped the reins of the other animal around his fist and turned Divashi’s Brown back toward the ship.
The crowd parted for them, eager to avoid either the incautious hooves of the pebafri or the contamination of outsiders—Dante wasn’t sure which.
“I apologize for my lack of judgment,” Vk said.
“We can discuss it on the ship,” Regi said.
Dante winced, and when he glanced over, Vk looked more miserable than he had ever seen her. He wished he had some words of comfort, but with Divashi still sabotaging their ship and Ter under investigation and Regi’s estranged family showing up, the situation was too far gone for simple platitudes, so he guided them back toward the ship and tried to take a few minutes to enjoy the dappled sunshine on his neck and the gentle chittering as Peaches entertained herself, and the awe-inspiring sight of the planetary rings hanging in the blue-gray sky.
And he tried hard not to notice the strong arm wrapped around his waist or the way Regi’s thighs pressed against his. Yep, they had too much going on for Dante to let his libido get out of control but he wished they didn’t. Luckily Vk’s guilt cast a shadow over all of them so it was a little easier to keep himself under control.
Chapter Nine
