The only thing that looked out of place now was the link attached to her belt. She almost considered leaving it behind, but didn't quite dare yet, even though Martha was being conspicuously silent.

The girl, Talana, who brought the white chauri, said more were being made for her and would be delivered on the new rising. Her much smaller height and dark hair and eyes marked her clearly as a Darash, if her simple sleeveless tunic and long skirt didn't. Brittany wasn't used to servants, but Talana didn't seem at all servile. She was perky, full of smiles, and seemed to have a sweet nature. Other than calling her "mistress," she was merely being helpful.

Talana was also tasked with leading her to dinner. They were passing through that little outdoor garden when Brittany stopped abruptly, it finally dawning on her that she'd had no trouble understanding Talana, nor Tedra and Challen earlier, nor anyone else she'd heard speak since their arrival that morning.

She couldn't believe something that simple would have been overlooked, and her tone reflected her incredulity when she said, "You people finally blew it, didn't you?"

"Mistress?"

"How are you going to explain the fact that the people here can understand me, if they are supposed to be a different race and language than mine?"

Talana was staring at her blankly, too confused to answer, but Martha proved she'd been eavesdropping all along when she said, "Took you long enough to notice, girl. But you got it a little backward. They aren't speaking your language; you're speaking theirs. "

"Huh?"

"It really only takes one night of sleeping on a Sublim tape of a new language to have the basics of that language planted in the subconscious. Your world has started using a similar process, just not one as advanced as we have. And instead of just one session for you, I overdosed you a full week before arrival, to make the transition as painless as possible for you. Which is why it's taken you so long to notice that you have two completely different languages in your head now."

"Martha, why do you bother?" Brittany said with a sigh. "You know I'm not gonna buy this."

Martha's laughter had the distinct sound of triumph in it this time. "For once, kiddo, I don't have to convince you. You'll do that yourself with just a little thought. Take the word chemar. You know what it means, don'tcha?"

"Of course, it's-"

Brittany didn't finish. Martha had switched back to her own language with that last question, and she had answered in kind, naturally, without thought-just as she had been speaking the new language from the moment she first heard it spoken to her. Because she knew it so well, it had been automatic to respond with what she was hearing.

"It's too bad we gave you a simple communicator to keep in touch with me, rather than a combo unit with viewers," Martha remarked. "I'd get a kick out of seeing just how white your face is about now."

Hot color suffused immediately. "Bright pink, if you must know."

"Finally amazed you, did we? With something you can't shrug off as being faked?"

Brittany ground her teeth. "Bull. Subliminal tapes are reputed to be a great learning tool, and you had three months to run one without my knowing about it while I slept. One day, my ass."

"If computers had patience to lose, I'd be losing mine about now."

That managed to surprise her. "You're giving up? It's over, then?"

"If you're never going to believe anything else, you should believe this. There isn't going to be an 'over.' There is never going to be a 'done.' The here and now is it. So get used to it. Start making the transition. You have a new life to live here; make the best of it."

"Just like that? 'Gee, how could I have been so wrong?' Is that what you expect me to say now?"

"Is it hereditary, this stubbornness of yours? Did your parents get along?"

"My parents got along fine. When they weren't fighting, they were kissing and making up."

"You said they were free-spirited."

"They grew up."

"Ah, finally the equation I've been missing. Okay, listen up, doll, because Probables did tell me what your problem is, and lucky for you, I'm still in a sharing mood. Your first fears were of the unknown. You equated aliens with weird-looking creatures. Those fears should have been alleviated by now. The Sha-Ka'ani aren't exactly what you're used to in humanoids, but they're close enough. Your next fear is more personal and still with you."

Brittany did not want to hear this. "This isn't going to-"

But Martha couldn't be interrupted. "You're afraid to accept the happiness that Dalden offers because deep down, you see him as too good to be true. He's everything you want in a mate, everything, so you figure something must be wrong. In your mind, no one gets that lucky. Your emotions are revving up. Did I hit a nerve?"

"Go to hell."

"I'll decline that, thank you," Martha said with a chuckle. "But your warrior is about to arrive and collect you. He's had a nice little talk with his father, and has concluded that you and he need some time off to yourselves where you won't be disturbed. Which means I'll be left behind. Good luck, doll. You're going to need it."

That last didn't sound promising, so she was rather apprehensive when Dalden appeared. He was wearing one of those determined looks again. And when he took her hand and started leading her off without a word about where they were going, her apprehension escalated.

« ^ »

"YOU KNOW, DALDEN, WHEN TWO PEOPLE DECIDE TO GO on an excursion together, they usually discuss it fully beforehand, to make sure they both agree that it sounds like a good plan. That way, one or the other doesn't bring along any disgruntlement, and they both can enjoy the outing."

He didn't reply. In fact, she'd made a number of remarks since they'd left Sha-Ka-Ra, and he hadn't replied to them, either. He'd yet to say one word to her since he dragged her out of the castle.

Two hataari had been waiting out front for them. She had been alarmed, thinking she was to ride one of them by herself, but she wasn't. The extra mount was loaded down with stuff Dalden was taking with them, and it merely followed along behind them.

It was full night by the time they reached the bottom of the mountain. Very dark, no moon yet, but normal-looking stars. She wasn't disturbed that there were no constellations that she might recognize. She'd already figured that they'd had to take her to some far-off country she wasn't familiar with for their project to have any hope of working, and the stars she was used to obviously didn't show up on this side of the world.

She was sitting in front of him on the hataar. He had one arm locked firmly around her waist, so she had no fear of slipping. The other controlled the animal. They were traveling slowly, which was probably a good thing. Everything was in shadow, without much distinction. She could barely see the dirt road they followed, if it was even a road. But he obviously could.

She was still wearing the thin chauri, which felt rather odd-riding sitting forward with one leg dangling on each side of the animal, the scarf pieces of the skirt split, exposing her limbs halfway up her thighs. She wasn't cold, though. The weather didn't seem to change much come nighttime, was just as balmy warm as the day had been. And Martha's link had been left behind as she'd predicted, taken from her waist and tossed into the foliage back in that garden.

Dalden was wearing a little less than usual. He was barechested, except for his medallion. A sword belt had been added, along with the weapon it was designed to carry. Long, wickedlooking daggers were also strapped to each of his boots. He was wearing those arm shields again, too, that had been donned for his fight with Jorran that day in City Hall. He looked positively primitive in that getup, which probably should have given her a clue that he wasn't the same Dalden she'd become used to.