not produce. There’d been rumors that expansion of the demesne had left a glut of the fine weave, but the Nasirof family had never exported—or even spoken of exporting—it. If Ashraf could speak of such a venture, it meant he was high in the family, possibly the heir to the demesne.
Ashraf smiled around at them, almost sheepishly. “Yes, I did have another purpose for coming here other than yelling about your clanswoman. I just cannot think of anything else since meeting her.” He shook his head.
“She has that effect on people,” Aunt Raella put in dryly, from the corner where she’d been observing. “It is, however, a little late for business. I would suggest a daytime meeting when things can be discussed a little more rationally.”
Ashraf smiled charmingly. “Ah, women are always the sensible ones. I will take the mistress’s advice. Would you send a representative over to the Desert Sun Inn tomorrow, perhaps before midmeal?”
Uncle Tarik nodded. “Kadar will represent the family. He knows our capabilities and has the authority to make such decisions.”
It was the first time his uncles had publicly named him heir, and Kadar stood proudly. He knew the elders would rewrite the details of whatever the two younger men agreed upon, but the responsibility fell upon his shoulders fully for the first time. He wished his sister were beside him to share the burden.
Ashraf studied him a moment, smiling.
“We have much to talk about,” he told Kadar, who knew he meant more than just a venture between the families. “Perhaps Farrah can show you the inn, so she can also say good-bye to her kinsman.”
“Great idea,” Kadar blurted out, and blushed as he was rewarded with one of her smiles. “I’m not certain of my way around Illian yet,” he added as an explanation to his uncles.
“I will look forward to seeing you then,” Ashraf said. He bowed and let himself out the front door.
Uncle Tarik shook his head, looking after him. “Sulis certainly knows how to pick them,” he said with a laugh. “Only she could make a rich Southerner heir fall in love with her on her way to the Temple—and then dump him for the One.”
“I think Sulis may need as many allies as she can muster,” Aunt Raella said. “It certainly saved her mother, being a friend to all.”
“The first time,” Uncle Aaron replied bitterly. “In the end, no one could save her from her own stubbornness.”
Aunt Raella rolled her eyes. “There is a purpose in life beyond just keeping safe, Aaron. Iamar knew that, and so does Sulis. You cannot chain a wild feli,” she said, then yawned. “I for one am going to bed, and I suggest you boys stop fretting and do the same.”
Kadar returned to his room and lay down on his cot. Sleep was slow in coming, and when it did, he dreamed of Temple walls disappearing into the blue of Farrah’s eyes.
MORNING DAWNED, AND Kadar received last-minute orders from his aunt and uncles. They seemed to wish they could go in Kadar’s stead, but tradition said that heirs had to meet with heirs. Kadar finally threw up his hands in laughing protest.
“I won’t sign away our hall,” he said. “Trust me, anything I’m uncertain about I will bring to you first. And nothing is final without your signatures, so what are you worried about?”
Uncle Aaron exchanged a glance with Uncle Tarik. “We need to make a good impression,” he said. “A partnership between our two families would be powerful, beyond just business. We are the two largest clans in the South. If this Ashraf has orders to approach us on business, it could be that the Nasirof clan is feeling us out for something larger.”
Uncle Tarik nodded. “This is bigger than just trading. Some of us feel it would be better to form a stronger alliance among the clans, just in case the Temple decides the South is too tasty not to finally take a bite of. We broke from the deities during the Great War, and our faith proved to the One we did not need the deities. But the Temple wants to expand its followers, to convert us back to the religion of the four.”
“But the One wouldn’t allow that,” Kadar protested.
“The One doesn’t involve herself in our daily lives,” Aunt Raella reminded him. “There have been wars between humans before, up north. We can’t expect the One to fight our battles for us; we need to prove to her our determination and