“I killed their prince, too.” I smiled, though it was not the whole truth. They had taken me aboard their vessel when I challenged Prince Ulurani, and the Prince had accepted, that it might avenge the death of its fellow prince, Aranata. While I’d distracted them with the duel, Pallino and Lieutenant Commander Garone had managed to place charges throughout the interior of their ship. We had held them to ransom, and they had fled. The Cielcin were not human. They could not be reasoned with like humans. I’d learned that on Vorgossos with Aranata nearly three centuries before.

