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reassuring. “What if we’re careful and we still meet up with them?”
    Kiran frowned. “I will protect you.”
    That wasn’t really very reassuring either. She had no doubt that he was a competent warrior, maybe even much more than just competent, but she had a feeling that there had been a number of Mordune, too many for one man to have a chance against. Not that she wouldn’t do her best to help, but realistically, she knew she couldn’t be much of a deterrent. Unlike Kiran, she had no weapons. One laser pistol—if she’d had the forethought to take one with her when she’d left the colony and not disposed of it as she had pretty much everything else—could have evened the odds considerably, but there wasn’t much point in thinking about it. She had no idea how Kiran’s archaic-looking weapons were even used, and she was fairly certain they had been designed for the size and strength of a Niahian man in any case.
    “The Zoeans war with the Mordune?” she asked hesitantly.
    Kiran shrugged. “At times we clash.”
    “But nobody knows why?”
    Again, he shrugged. “It was long ago—before the growing things died and Niah became desert.”
    Tempest’s eyebrows rose. “You think it might have had something to do with the change in the planet? Like a great war, I mean, that killed everything off?”
    “Even the Keepers of the Memory do not know.”
    “How do you know they don’t know?”
    “They have never said.”
    “That doesn’t mean they don’t know, only that they’re not telling if they do know,” Tempest pointed out.
    Kiran frowned, obviously more irritated than thoughtful. “They are the Keepers of the True Memory. They are careful to preserve only what happened. They would not tell untruths.”
    “Hmm.”
    Kiran glared at her. “You are not of this world. You know nothing of our people. You are not in a position to judge.”
    “Maybe not,” Tempest said tightly. “But from what I have seen, the people of this world aren’t a whole hell of a lot different than the people , which means they not only lie sometimes, but they also only see their own side of things, which isn’t always the complete truth. My father told me that history was recorded by the victors, and they always told everything from their own side. He said it was natural to want to take pride in the things they’d done and that I should always look at both sides before I made a judgment because, without actually meaning to lie, they might gloss over the ugly things … or just leave them out.
    “If it isn’t the whole truth, then its partly a lie.”
    Kiran gave her a strange look. “Your father was wise for an Earthling.”
    Tempest rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help but smile. It was a backhanded compliment if she’d ever heard one, but it was actually pretty amusing to have someone from such a backward world comment on the intelligence of Earthlings, who’d been far superior, at least technologically.
    “This amuses you?”
    Tempest shook her head. “Pride goeth before a fall,” she quoted, with no idea what the origins were, except that there was a lot of wisdom in it.
    “This means?”
    “Be careful you don’t trip over it and learn humility the hard way.”
    He flushed slightly. Tempest wasn’t certain whether it was from annoyance or embarrassment, but she thought it was terribly cute to see such a big, brawny warrior blush. “You are young to have such wisdom.”
    Tempest felt her own color heighten, partly from pleasure at the compliment, and partly because she knew it wasn’t strictly true. “I was taught a lot, but, truthfully, I haven’t had much chance to practice, or experience, the things I learned. Mostly I just know because I was told. How did you learn to speak my language anyway?”
    “From the others.”
    Tempest’s heart seemed to stand perfectly still in her chest. “There are others? Like me?” she asked breathlessly.
    He smiled faintly. “There are none like you. But