Traitor's Moon

said Seregil, shading his eyes. “He looks ill, though. I wonder if Klia knows?”
    Alec craned his neck for a closer look at the old man as their two groups converged on the quayside. Torsin’s skin was sallow, his eyes sunk deeply beneath his thick white brows. The skin of his face and neck hung in folds, as if he’d recently lost weight. Even so, the man still cut an imposing figure, austere and dignified. The close-cropped hair showing beneath his plain velvet hat was snowy white, his long face creased with solemn furrows that seemed to sag with the weight of his years. As he approached Klia, however, his stern expression gave way to a surprising smile that immediately disposed Alec in the man’s favor.
    The principal members of the Aurënfaie contingent were easily distinguished by their fine tunics of ceremonial white. Foremost among these were a Gedre man with thick streaks of white in his hair, and a young, fair-haired woman wearing the green-and-brown-striped sen’gai of Akhendi clan. Of the two, she was the more heavily jeweled, denoting higher status. Smooth gems set in heavy gold glowed in the sunlight on her fingers, wrists, and at her throat.
    The man was the first to speak. “Be welcome in the fai’thast of my clan, Klia ä Idrilain Elesthera Klia Rhíminee,” he said, clasping hands with Klia. “I am Riagil í Molan, khirnari of Gedre. Torsin í Xandus has been extolling your virtues to us since his arrival yesterday. I see that, as usual, he speaks without exaggeration.”
    Removing a thick silver bracelet from each wrist, he presented them to her. Among the ’faie, Alec had learned, one gained honor by being able to make a lavish gift to one’s guests as if it were only a trifle.
    Smiling, Klia slipped the bracelets onto her wrists. “I thank you for your welcome, Riagil í Molan Uras Illien Gedre, and for your great generosity.”
    The woman stepped forward next and gave Klia a necklace ofcarved carnelians. “I am Amali ä Yassara, wife of Rhaish í Arlisandin, khirnari of Akhendi clan. My husband is in Sarikali with the Iia’sidra, so it is my great pleasure to welcome you to Aurënen and to accompany you on your remaining journey.”
    â€œSo lovely,” Klia said, placing the necklace around her neck. “Thank you for your great generosity. Please allow me to present my advisers.”
    Klia introduced her companions one by one, rattling off the lengthy strings of patronymics or matronymics with practiced ease. Each Skalan was greeted with polite attention until they came to Seregil.
    Amali ä Yassara’s smile disappeared. She gave no direct insult but instead treated Seregil like so much empty air as she stepped quickly past. Seregil pretended not to notice, but Alec saw the way his friend’s eyes went hard and blank for a moment, shutting away the pain.
    The Gedre khirnari regarded Seregil thoughtfully for a long moment. “You are greatly changed,” he said at last. “I would not have known you.”
    Alec shifted uneasily; this was not the greeting of an old friend.
    Seregil bowed, still betraying neither surprise nor disappointment. “I remember you well, and kindly, Khirnari. Allow me to present my talímenios, Alec í Amasa.”
    The Akhendi still kept her distance, but Riagil clasped Alec’s hand between his own with evident delight. “Be welcome, Alec í Amasa! You are the Hâzadriëlfaie Adzriel ä Illia told us of when she returned from Skala.”
    â€œHalf, my lord. On my mother’s side,” Alec managed, still rocked by their treatment of Seregil. He hadn’t expected anyone to know of him, much less care.
    â€œThen this is a doubly happy day, my friend,” Riagil said, patting his shoulder kindly. “You will find Gedre a welcoming clan for
ya’shel.”
    He moved on, greeting the lesser aides and servants. Alec leaned closer to Seregil and whispered, “Ya’shel?”
    â€œThe respectful word for ‘half-breed.’ There are others. The Gedre have the most mixed bloods of any clan in Aurënen. See that woman with fair hair? And that fellow there by the boat, with black eyes and dark skin? Ya’shel. They’ve mixed with Dravnians, Zengati, Skalans—anyone they trade with.”
    â€œWord of your arrival has already been sent to Sarikali, Klia äIdrilain,” Riagil announced when the