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of blankets and three pallets lay next to the fire.

Once their escort had left, a search of the suite showed that the exit was guarded. The windows were shuttered, but in any case they were too far above ground level to make escape through them a practical proposition.

In front of the main fire, the table was set with food and wine.

"Ever get the feeling you were expected?" asked Davies, strolling over to the food and helping himself to a piece of meat from some type of fowl.

"We weren't betrayed," said Jo shortly.

Rezac turned to his Leska. "You should eat, Zashou. It's been a long time since our last meal."

She flicked an ear in reply and headed slowly for one of the dining chairs by the fire. He could feel her tiredness affecting him.

"You, too," he said, looking at the remaining two Humans. "We must all keep our strength up. No telling when or where our next meal will come from." As he turned toward the table, he felt a hand on his arm. Abruptly he turned back, teeth partially bared in a snarl.

Jo didn't flinch, but she did release him very slowly. "We're allies of Shola," she said in his language. "They brought us here undercover to examine the Valtegan scouter. There are four more Sholans imprisoned on Jalna. We have to work together, Rezac."

He turned away from her and continued over to the table. Lifting the flimsy knife, he began trying to hack some meat from the cold joint in the center.

"You've been to Shola?"

"Yes, briefly," replied Jo.

"Where?"

"Valsgarth Telepath Guild and the Warrior Guild in Nazule."

"What about Ranz, on the plains?" He sensed Kris joining him at the table.

"Don't you mean in the Dzahai Mountains? I've been to Vartra's Retreat too."

Startled, Rezac looked round. "Vartra's Retreat? So he did go to the temple at Stronghold after all."

"The temple at Valsgarth is the main one now, but yes, there's also a temple of Vartra at Stronghold."

"Temple?" asked Zashou, looking up at Jo and Kris. "What has Vartra to do with temples?"

Rezac watched the two Humans exchange glances.

"You've a helluva lot of catching up to do," observed Davies sitting down. "On the Shola we know, Vartra is the major god of warriors and telepaths. He was responsible for saving them from the Cataclysm." He reached out for another piece of meat.

"He was a person? You knew him?" Jo sat down opposite Zashou.

Shocked once more to the core, Rezac let the knife fall from his grasp and sat down heavily. "A god? How?"

"It seems we've outlived ourselves," said Zashou. "You were right the first time, Rezac. Let's eat. We can talk of these matters later, when we're stronger." They can't tell us much if they were only there briefly.

"I lived there for six months, Zashou," said Kris, taking the seat next to Jo.

"You can hear us mind-speak to each other?" demanded Rezac.

Kris smiled. "We Terrans have one or two Talents of our own. That's why I was living on Shola."

A small chirrup of sound drew Rezac's gaze to Kris' jacket pocket. From its depths popped a white-furred face, muzzle and ears tipped with brown, large eyes glancing rapidly round the assembled faces. A trill of pleasure as it saw Jo, and a sniff of disdain at the two Sholans, and Scamp emerged. Scrambling up Kris' arm to his neck, it raised its front paws to pat his face then leaped down to the table to run to Jo.

"A jegget!" exclaimed Zashou. "You brought a jegget with you?"

Rezac began to laugh. "You've got more than Talents if you can befriend a jegget!" Now he knew they came from Shola— and more: as the only other telepathic species on their world, no jegget would go near a person it didn't trust. In fact, the little creatures were notorious for that. Get a nest of jeggets in your barn, and you'd never get rid of them! They knew when you were coming, knew where your traps were.

Scamp, meanwhile, was twining himself and his dark-tipped bushy tail round Jo's neck, chirruping and purring for all he was worth.

Aware of his pet's feelings, and a