Praying did not guarantee success, but it never hurt, and it provided solace.
"We should," Annani agreed.
Alena reached for her hand, and Annani took her son's hand on the other side. Kian's eyebrows rose because he was not the praying type, but he did not pull away.
14
NAVUH
The pastry was still untouched on the napkin beside Navuh, and he hadn't decided whether he wanted to eat it. He was not in the mood for something sweet when his soul was full of bitterness.
"How many traitors have joined Annani's clan?" he asked.
Areana shifted in her chair. "I do not know."
"Estimate."
"I can't. I only know what Annani and our sons tell me, and I didn't ask about that."
"Kalugal defected with seventy-three other males. I'm sure that Annani's female descendants found suitable immortal mates among them."
It was a small consolation to know that Annani's granddaughters and great-granddaughters had mated with males who had been fathered by brutes. Annani's selective breeding for intelligence and good looks had probably been trashed.
"Again, I don't know," Areana said. "Kalugal and his men live in their own section of the village."
"Second-class citizens, I presume."
"Not at all. Kalugal is a member of the council."
That shouldn't please Navuh, but it did. His son was respected by Annani and her people and not merely tolerated as a charity case.
"Do you remember Sharim?" Areana asked.
He was surprised by the question. "How do you know about him?"
"Dalhu beheaded him in a duel. I mention this so you will stop with that nonsense about real males not bothering with soft things like art. Dalhu is a formidable warrior and an artist. The two can coexist."
Navuh remembered Sharim. Sharim had been Losham's adopted son. A sadist who had nevertheless been a promising rising star in the Brotherhood. His death had been a mystery since a fire had destroyed his stronghold in California along with all evidence of what had transpired there, but Losham had always suspected that the clan had been behind Sharim and his entire unit's disappearance.
"His death was regrettable," Navuh said. "He had a lot of potential. Losham had big plans for him."
"He was a monster."
"True, but he was useful."
She shook her head. "That's not an excuse, Navuh. You should have disciplined him, forbidden him to torture women."
"He would have done it anyway, just away from the island. The only way to stop him was to kill him, and I didn't want to do that because he was good at his job and because Losham adopted him and considered him a son. Would you have wanted me to kill him?"
Areana looked conflicted. "I would have wanted you to threaten him with death if he crossed the line."
He knew she was too soft to demand the execution of anyone, even someone she considered a monster. That was why the soft ones always lost. They didn't have the guts to do what needed to be done to purge their society of harmful elements.
Not that he agreed with their definition of harmful elements because those were precisely the kind of people he needed to cause chaos and destruction.
"Is Kian Annani's only son?" he asked to change the subject.
"Annani had another son after Kian. He died in battle a long time ago."
