Night Song (The Guild Wars Book 9) by Mark Wandrey (best ereader under 100 .txt) 📕

 “You could introduce yourself,” Sonya said once her translator and brain caught up to the different things he’d said. “And we could do the same.”

“Oh, we all know who you are. Mystery clan pups, born on a contract, raised by the enemy.” There was a boundless excitement in his voice that the translator couldn’t replicate, but carried through after their hours with Isgono.

“Humans aren’t the enemy,” Drake replied, though his ears remained too soft for him to have taken offense.

“Not yours. But fight ‘em on a contract a few times and try to tell me that. Clever monkeys, aren’t they?” He shrugged, eyes shining with good humor, then spread his hands at them before re-securing himself on his handhold. “Didn’t introduce myself. Right. Let me meet formal with formal—Kuru, of Insho’Ze. Fi-Ke Ja-Insho’Ze: Hoat, P’kaf, Zal.” He bared his throat to them, somewhat ruining the formality of it with his lolling smile.

The translator didn’t even try, and Sonya glanced at Shadow and Ripley, closest to her, to see if anyone had picked up more than she had.

“Oh, not that much time with the Sei yet. Apologies.” He flicked his ears back and toward them again, holding each direction slightly longer than Sonya knew she or her siblings did when mildly embarrassed. Either he was really embarrassed, which the rest of his posture didn’t indicate, or that was a Zuul ‘sorry.’

“Just the one conversation so far,” Rex interjected, angling himself fully toward the other male. He didn’t bare his throat, and Sonya floated forward before her largest brother pushed the issue.

“Isgono encouraged us to learn from anyone on the ship and said the Paku’s crew would be happy to work with us. Maybe try that one again and then you can tell us what you needed?”

“Oh, needed.” He snorted dismissively. “Wanted to invite you to sparring drills, if you were interested. Everyone wants to see how Earth Zuul fight. We have a tie between Zi and Ja, and wanted to see if you could flip the rankings.”

“Home world Ja, oldest colony Zi,” Ripley murmured, and Sonya saw her sister drop her jaw in an answering smile.

“Isgono has priorities, I see. Very well. Will you come spar? I can explain on the way.” He jerked his head back the way he’d come, an entirely different direction from which they’d left Isgono.

Sonya glanced at Rex, though she couldn’t imagine a world in which he turned that down.

“We can at least see what you’re all about,” Ripley offered, pointedly not looking at Rex.

“Let’s do that,” Rex said after a moment. His voice was level, but Sonya didn’t have to see his tail to know how much he wanted to spar with other Zuul. No holding back like they had to with Humans. Like Rex did, even for his siblings. Maybe not Drake, but Sonya didn’t pretend to understand their dynamic half the time.

“Excellent. This way, Earth pups.” The other Zuul did a neat flick of his tail and spun around, keeping his pace slow enough for the pack to fall in step with him.

“All right, Kuru of Insho’Ze. What were the rest of those words?” Shadow asked, trailing the group by only a half-step.

“Formality. I introduced the whole of me. Usually we use it in descriptions, to ensure others know who we’re talking about. In extremely fancy settings, we might introduce ourselves that way, in case we weren’t close enough to exchange scents, or in space-worthy suits that don’t allow for such things.” Kuru’s tail brushed side to side, not enough to visibly change his balance. “Fi-Ke, Ja-Insho’Ze—I am a soldier, Fi, and male, Ke. I am of the Insho’Ze clan of Ja—Ja-Insho’Ze. Other Zuul would know my ancestry fairly well, were they properly familiar with Ja.”

“That becomes important, given how many Zuul worlds there are?” Sonya asked, considering all the modifiers.

“Becomes? Always is and has been. Some worlds are so old they no longer remember where they were from, choosing different traditions and paths so many generations ago, they believe that was always the way.” Kuru snorted, lifted a shoulder, and flicked his ears. “Some worlds are so young it is the same. It can be easy to lose the scent on the wind, among the stars. Some Sei’Shin lost their path, and their worlds followed.”

Sonya didn’t know which piece she wanted to ask first. Before she could untangle her thoughts, Ripley forged ahead.

“And the others? Hot, kaf, zal?”

“Hoat, P’kaf, Zal are my three dominant scents,” he corrected her easily, and Sonya saw him sleek down his dark red-brown fur. She clenched her jaw to keep from smiling but filed it away to tease her sister later. “Saying them brings the smell to any Zuul nose, even if they can’t scent me themselves.”

Kuru looked around at them, eager as ever, and saw the lack of comprehension. “The Sei didn’t share scents yet? No, Earth pups, I am no teacher. I’ll leave that to him. I’m a soldier, and I’ve heard you are too. Let’s talk about that!”

“How many contracts have you been out on?” Drake asked, using the Zuul word for contract.

“Six,” Kuru answered guiding them down a new corridor. “Though two were training and clean-up for my clan. Four properly. To the end of the hall and up the tube, make your way.” He gestured them along, tail waving.

Sonya floated ahead, half listening to the conversation of battles and contracts. The corridor continued, bending into another curve, but she tipped her head back rather than taking the turn. Above and below her stretched a small corridor, studded not with rungs but small projections in the wall. She cocked her head and studied it while the rest of the group caught up, then dropped her jaw in a grin.

Steadying herself on a handhold, she crouched slightly, then shoved