I remembered his words. My birth was seen as an omen, though what it portends none can say.

This seemed as likely as any. Akor's voice whispered in my head, ''Courage, dear heart. Now we are here, let us do what we have come to do.''

It was kind of him not to speak of my fear.

At the far end of the chamber there was a half-round dais. as it were in the bottom of half of a large bowl, and on it sat a Dragon with a skin of copper bright as a new-minted coin. I gritted my teeth and aimed straight for the front of the dais, but I was overtaken by Shikrar, who hurried ahead of me and started to speak.

I had only ever heard a few words of the Old Speech. It was the first tongue of all the peoples, the language of Dragons, and though it was in aeons past the basis of my own language there were few words left of it in common speech. The ancient name I took as my own, Kaelar, the Wanderer, was from a ballad. Songs and places alone kept even the memory of the Old Speech among men, but for all the time and distance the sounds were somehow familiar, and hearing Shikrar speak I felt I had stepped back in time. The words hovered just on the edge of meaning. I caught one or two, and felt that I was near as a breath to understanding all he said.

When the world was younger and the last of the Trelli but lately departed, our two Kindreds lived in harmony.

Akor stood behind me, his massive bulk shielding me from the view of most of the others.

Few, it seems, had seen me come in, for which small mercy I was deeply thankful.

"What is he saying, Akor?" I whispered.

''He is calling for attention, saying that another has come with words for the Council. It is brave of him, dearling; by our laws you have no voice here. And we are a people of law.''

Even in his mouth it sounded sour. "Are you indeed?" I asked, a ghost of my mad bravery lingering. "Well, now I'm here I must do what I can. I've dealt with legal-minded Merchants before."

''Lanen, my people are not Merchants!'' he said, sounding shocked.

I would have answered him, but Shikrar stepped back and bowed to us. "Let you speak now for your lives, my friends, and may the Winds guide your words and your thoughts," he said in Common Speech. He moved then to the back of the dais to sit beside the copper-coloured one.

"It's time, dear heart," I said quietly.

"Yes. They are expecting me alone to stand and speak. Shall we go?"

"Age before beauty." He stared at me. "You first," I said, smiling. "I'd hate to be fried on sight by accident."

"I see. You would rather it be done intentionally,'' he said as he stepped gracefully up. It wasn't fair, really, I didn't mean to be laughing when I clambered up the tall step to stand beside him on such a solemn occasion. But it did make for a hell of an entrance.

I gathered later from Shikrar that they had expected to find a demure, silent soul, obedient and willing, waiting for their verdict and generally thick as a plank. Lady knows why. Just because I had been an idiot in love didn't mean I was stupid altogether.

"My lords and ladies!" I called out, in my best horse-fair voice.

That got their attention. The sound nearly deafened me. The Great Hall was wonderful, it magnified my voice so well I could speak almost in normal tones. That yell had been something, for a human.

''I greet you all, in the name of my ancestors and my people. I am called Lanen Maransdatter of the Gedrishakrim, and I greet you as my brothers and sisters in the name of the Winds and of the Lady."

Dead silence.

Well, even in my dreams it hadn't been easy.

''Lanen, few of my people understand your tongue. Shall I translate for you ?''

''Yes, Akor, please, but only if you promise to say exactly what I do. Some of this is not going to be pleasant, and you must not soften it. We know the tones of voice are roughly the same, I'm sure they'll get the general idea."

''I'm sure they will,'' he replied dryly. ''You would not care to reconsider, would you, dearling? Thus far we have merited only a swift death.''

''Perish the thought,'' I said, responding in truespeech. The fey mood was still upon me. "I'd hate to disappoint them. They won't have had this much fun in years. Now stop distracting me and start translating.''

The response was gratifying, but I must admit it was my turn to be surprised. I had forgotten that they could all hear my truespeech, it now seemed so natural to use it with Akor.

"Why have you waited so long to speak in the Language of Truth? Or had you nothing true to say?" sneered a smaller, bronze-hued Dragon.

''So now you can hear me. Why didn't any of you answer when I called you from the Boundary?" I shot back. Somehow rudeness from the Kantri snapped me back into that anger and exultation that had brought me storming in. "Could you not admit that I have the gift you value so highly? That I am not Silent, not Gedri in that sense, but a creature of standing equal to your own? Or did you think I could lie even in this language?"

''You have no voice here ..." began one lady feebly, but I could not bear to hear that again. Instinctively I spoke aloud

"I should have a voice here! I am not a beast, I am an ensouled creature as you are, and I never heard that the Winds gave you the power of the high justice over me and mine!'

"Would it not be best to continue in the Language of Truth?" asked Shikrar quietly. "It is thus that we may best hear you.''

I thought about that for a moment. "I believe you are right, Shikrar, and I thank you. I spoke in my own tongue in my anger, but were you to come among us we would wish you to speak our language. I shall continue as long as I may, though I cannot use the silent speech for long without some discomfort. It is natural to your people—and to me, it seems—but I am newly come to it. Still, I shall try.''

Obviously there were many who had not believed, even after hearing her distant calls on several occasions, that she, a Gedri, could be the source of truespeech. There could be no doubt now. When she lapsed into her own speech again, I translated for her.

I had meant to establish her right to speak. The right was mine, and would have been hers if she had been of the Kindred. I at least was due an appeal. But I did not dare interrupt She was inspired, and I was glad enough to wait and watch. Our people are prone at times to sudden ill-conceived actions—it is the hazard of being creatures of Fire. I would make certain she was protected from any who threatened.

Otherwise, I merely sat and marvelled at her. She was a wonder.

"People of the Greater Kindred, I stand before you as your sister in this world. True, we are made differently, but we are far closer in spirit than you are to the Rakshasa, or either of us to the vanished Trelli. In the first days of our meeting, Akor and I quickly came to understand each other's Attitudes and expressions. And even when words failed us, we learned that rone of voice was a near-infallible guide. As I understand Attitudes, I stand somewhere between Defiance and Respect.''

One voice rang out. ''We read you well enough, Gedri. You are sentenced already.''

"No, Dragon, I am not," I cried, lapsing into my own tongue and putting as much venom in my voice as I could. They all stirred at that; some who had been in what looked like it might be Listening or some such now stood in Anger. As soon as I saw it I understood, I knew what I must do.

"Yes, Akor has told me how that name offends you. Very well! You are the Greater Kindred, I will pay you that respect; but I have told you my own name. I am Lanen Maransdatter. To call me Gedri, a Silent One, is in any case not correct—but among my people if you deny the name, you deny the person, and I think you have done quite enough of that already. ''