“Fat chance,” she snorted. “Who would dare?”

“You would. You no longer find me so formidable.”

He seemed pleased by that observation. Shanelle wasn’t. What was wrong with her, standing here bantering with him as if they were lovers?

“Now who’s teasing?” she said, and a stiffness had entered her tone. “You’re about as formidable as they come.”

He sighed. “I preferred it when you laughed, kerima. What has changed your mood? You had begun to soften toward me-”

“I did no such thing,” she cut in indignantly. “Weren’t you listening earlier, when I told you all the reasons why I will never soften toward you?”

“It is only your fear of me that concerns me. The rest will not matter when you are assured that I will never hurt you again.”

All she could do was to stare at him wide-eyed. He really believed that. Conviction was written all over his face. Talk about one-sided logic. But what should she expect from a warrior?

“That tears it,” she said finally. “Let me pass already, Falon, or I’m going to find out if I actually learned anything in my downing classes.”

The cage opened. She was almost disappointed. It would have been immensely satisfying to see his expression if she could have flipped him onto his backside. Of course, the key word was if.

“So you can be reasona-?” she started to say but then gasped as she was drawn up against his chest and soundly kissed. When she was set back on her feet a few minutes later, her legs barely supported her. Falon, watching her closely, was now grinning.

“I will escort you to the competitions,” he said, so nonchalantly you’d think he hadn’t just set her on her ear. “I want you to watch me fight.”

“No,” was all she could manage to say at first, but then she threw some ice on the fire he’d just lit and added, “I will be watching the visitor arenas until the end of the competitions. After all, the only reason I went with you to your tent yesterday was because I thought you were a visitor. I still mean to find one who will suit me-”

“If you do so, I will have to kill him.”

That bald statement made Shanelle so furious, she was rendered speechless. Dren and Yari chose that moment to come around the corner.

One look at Shanelle’s fiery expression and Falon’s stormy one, and Dren thoughtlessly asked, “Do you need assistance, Shani?”

She had to give Dren credit for not being a complete idiot, because he didn’t actually realize what he was offering until after he’d said it. He then turned three shades of white, which was not surprising, since the top of his head barely reached Falon’s shoulders. But Falon didn’t even glance at the male Kystrani, who he considered beneath his notice.

That, unfortunately, didn’t relieve poor Dren, so Shanelle quickly assured him, “No, Shodan Van’yer and I were just discussing a few of the differences between his country and mine. I believe they’re so used to owning slaves that they think they can put the stamp of ownership on anyone they please. Things don’t work that way around here, and the shodan would do well to remember that.”

All Falon said to that before leaving was, “Best you remember my warning, woman, else will you not like the results.”

Shanelle began to think that something she had said to Falon had finally got through to him when that day passed into the next and he still hadn’t asked her father for her. He got involved with the competitions instead, so involved it was as if he’d forgotten all about her.

She watched him fight from afar, though she’d told him she wouldn’t. And she hadn’t intended to, particularly after his parting threat. She hadn’t intended to get anywhere near him ever again. But it was almost a compulsion to watch him do what warriors do best that made her seek him out. She knew it was foolishness on her part. But she took precautions, staying well back from whichever arena he was fighting in-but not so far back that she couldn’t see him. However, not once did he notice her, or even seem to look for her in the crowd when he wasn’t fighting. And when he was, his concentration was so firmly fixed on his opponents, she probably could have stood right at his arena and not gained his attention.

Today she got bolder, but then today the competitions would end, and her father had requested that she join him and Tedra at his pavilion for the finals. The eliminations had finished that morning. The eight warriors who were still undefeated at swords, and who had lost no more than one of the other contests of skill, would now fight in pairs before the shodan until only four remained, then two, then the champion of all. Falon was one of those eight finalists.

Shanelle was not surprised, not after watching how skillfully he had fought yesterday with swords. And he hadn’t lost at any of the other contests either. And as long as she stayed near her parents, she wasn’t too worried about Falon’s saying anything of a personal nature to her if he did approach her. He didn’t. Even while he awaited his turn to fight, he didn’t. And the one time he did look her way, he didn’t acknowledge her at all.

She began to think he’d changed his mind about asking her father for her. Perhaps he really had finally taken her rejection to heart. Of course, he could still be so angry at that last taunt she’d thrown at him that he felt it prudent not to approach her until he calmed down a little. But somehow she doubted that was the cause of what seemed to her more like indifference now.

And then his name was called to enter the arena, and she didn’t think about anything other than the match about to take place.

“You aren’t worried about him getting hurt, are you?” Tedra came by her side to ask.

“Certainly not.”

But blood had been spilled in these contests. The swords used were blunted, but they were still deadly weapons. And although the object was merely to disarm, not to cut and maim, accidents were inevitable-and Shanelle’s “Certainly not” was a big fat lie.

Tedra knew that, which was why she said, “I’m glad to hear it, because it would be a pure waste of time worrying about someone that good with a sword. He knows he’s going to win. That kind of confidence tends to make it happen. I could almost wish he’d lose. The man doesn’t deserve to get everything he goes after.”

Shanelle stiffened. “Has father-?”

“No, not yet. But I’m afraid the question is going to be asked before the day is over, and I’m also afraid your father has already made up his mind. I can’t imagine why, but he likes your young man.”

“Then I’ll have to leave,” Shanelle said in a small voice, her shoulders slumping.

“Don’t worry about it, Shani.”

Shanelle misunderstood, thinking her mother was merely going to try and talk Challen out of giving his approval. But she couldn’t afford to take that risk, couldn’t afford to be anywhere near Falon if Tedra failed and he got Challen’s blessing anyway.

“Mother, you know that with father’s approval, all Falon has to do is say the words within my hearing and we will be joined for life, whether I want it or not. And once he says the words, I’ll be his as far as he and anyone else are concerned. You know how damned easy it is. Father joined his life to yours and you didn’t even know it.”

“I know.” Tedra couldn’t help grinning as she remembered how ignorant she had been of Sha-Ka’ani customs at the time. “But I told you not to worry. I’ll be there to know if Falon gets the permission he needs to say those words. And Martha is already alerted, so don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself on the Rover.”

Shanelle’s throat constricted painfully. She had said she would do it. Hadn’t she just spent nearly a year learning how to pilot deep-space ships for just this possibility, even being prepared to steal one if necessary? She had had every intention of going off on her own if her father chose a man for her whom she couldn’t accept. But deep down, she had hoped she wouldn’t have to.