Chapter 10

The instant the tribunal was concluded, Lisia was on his feet, tugging insistently on Cobweb's hand and moving down the aisle.

"What are you--"

"Got to see Laran -- come on, hurry up, you're coming with me!" Lisia insisted, using his free hand to efficiently part the crowd.

"What do you think I can do by being there?" Cobweb asked.

"Just... well, I don't know, just be there!" Lisia replied impatiently, not turning his head as he spoke, too intent on keeping his target in sight.

Various hara were jostling for space in the first row as Lisia began to maneuver his way down. Like magic, every har who saw him moved out of the way. They must recognize him, Cobweb thought to himself. Either that or they recognized Lord Swift's famous hostling.

Finally Lisia halted and let Cobweb's hand drop. Before them stood a har dressed in black, his back turned as he spoke in hushed tones with another har, a Parasiel official. The conversation was still ongoing when Lisia stepped forward and very deliberately tapped the har on the shoulder. The har's shoulders tensed.

"Tiahaar Laran," Lisia enunciated. Cobweb noticed the former hostling's posture, which had shifted to something close to defiant, his hands on his hips, his back perfectly erect.

Laran turned. "Oh, Lisia-- hello. You're looking well." The words were completely inadequate and the har knew it but faced with the sudden confrontation, it was apparently the best he could manage.

"Thank you," said Lisia, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "Now that the Parasiel and Gelaming have come to my rescue, I've been enjoying the benefits of regular sleeping and eating. Not to mention that I haven't hosted in nearly a year. Shocking the improvement really. How have you been, doctor?"

With this Lisia seemed to have gotten the better of Laran. "Lisia, I'm sorry," he suddenly choked. "I know you think we mistreated you and--"

"Ah, but do you think so?" Cobweb demanded, unable to restrain himself from speaking up to this obviously arrogant har.

"This, doctor, is Tiahaar Cobweb," Lisia introduced brusquely.

Laran drew himself up to his full height. "Well, Tiahaara, I believe both of you need to realize that I wasn't in a position to make judgements -- apart from medical ones. I did what I had to do."

"But you lied to me!" Lisia accused bitterly. "From the moment you examined me at my Feybraiah, you deliberately lied to me, just like you did with all the other hostlings. You didn't tell me what I was, not really." He glanced over to Cobweb. "You didn't tell me what it is to be Wraeththu, what my body is really all about. The Gelaming and hara like Cobweb had to explain it to me."

The doctor deflated slightly. "I'm sorry, Lis."

"That comes a little late." Lisia's stare was icy.

"Now, Lis, you have to admit, I treated you very well," Laran said. "Remember how many times I stayed with you through the long hours of your deliveries, talking you through to the very end? Remember that very first one, how hard it was? Remember when you delivered out in the field? And what about when you went into premature labor? I made sure--"

"You made sure I was pulled off work for the rest of my hosting so I could deliver one more pearl for the project!" Lisia was nearly shouting at this point and although the confrontation between the two hara had begun to draw attention, the former hostling didn't seem to care.

"You want me to remember all those times you helped me with those deliveries? Well, doctor, you know perfectly well that you wouldn't have needed to help if I hadn't been made to host in the first place. I don't want to hear about how you're so wonderful. If more soldiers had come by then, rather than us having to give up the project, you would have let me host again, wouldn't you have? That's the only reason we were so well cared for -- so we could make as many soldier harlings as possible!"

A full compliment of eyes and ears were now taking in the argument. Despite this, the two hara carried on as if they were having a private conversation.

"Lis, I don't know what to tell you," Laran began. "I did what I had to do and now I'm going on with my life. I don't care what's ahead of me -- it's not so bad really. It's a new start. All I want is to just put what happened behind me. I'm sure you want the same thing."

Lisia was shaking his head sadly. "I don't want to go back, but I won't ever 'put what happened behind me,' Laran. Now that I'm headmaster of the school, I see the results of the project every day. I'm going to be picking up the pieces for years, raising those harlings. It seems I'm the only one left with any sense of responsibility!" He stepped back and grasped Cobweb's arm. "Come on, let's go. I'm through here."

With that Lisia led them out the aisle just as forcefully as he'd led them in. The doctor was left staring, his mouth a tight line.

"Lis," Cobweb said half under his breath, "if I didn't know you better, I'd say you were angry."

"I am angry." Lisia pressed on through the crowd, which was still bottlenecked in places.

"I was only joking."

"Well, it's not funny." They were now almost at the exit. "Of course I'm angry. Does it really surprise you? I mean, I know I'm always supposed to be so 'nice' and compliant -- it's what I was taught -- but honestly I do get angry." Stalled momentarily by a gaggle of hara at the door, Lisia paused and his expression turned thoughtful. "I remember the first time, actually. It was right after I bore my first pearl."

"Tell me about it," Cobweb urged, only then noticing several hara who looked as though they might want to talk to Lisia. "But first, let me take you somewhere more private. You're not really in the mood to deal with more questions, are you?"

"No," Lisia admitted. "I just want to get away from here."