“Took a good many people with him when he went, too,” Max replied. “I’m not saying he didn’t do what needed doing. I’m not saying he was a bad First Lord. I’m just saying that you aren’t much like him.” He shrugged. “I’m thinking that your solutions wouldn’t look much like his did.”

Tavi frowned. “How so?”

Max gestured at the front of the ship. “Old Sextus never would have had his ship up front, where disaster could hit it if our fliers got sloppy or unlucky. He’d...” Max scrunched up his eyes thoughtfully. “He’d have positioned two or three of either his worst captains or his best up here. His worst to get rid of the deadweight if another ship went down, his best because they’d be the ones most likely to challenge his authority.”

Tavi grunted. “No good. I need all my captains. And Demos is the best captain in my fleet.”

“Don’t let Varg hear you say that,” Max said. “And speaking of taking pointless risks...”

Tavi rolled his eyes. “I had to. If the ritualists had been given time to whip the Canim into a frenzy over the two makers we killed, Varg wouldn’t have dared to leave them back at Antillus for fear he’d lose control. By changing the issue to a question of Varg’s personal honor, it brought the whole thing to a screaming halt. Varg is the dead makers’ champion now, not the ritualists. He’s still in control.”

“So when he kills you, it will be orderly,” Max said.

“It won’t come to an actual duel,” Tavi said confidently. “Neither one of us wants that. We’re only doing it to force the ritualists to hold back, rather than urging other Canim to take action and maybe remove Varg from power. But if Varg can pull the ritualists’ fangs, a duel won’t be necessary. We’ll resolve it before it comes to bloodshed.” After a hesitation, he added, “Probably.”

Max snorted. “What if he doesn’t? He brought the ritualists with him, you know.”

Tavi shrugged. “I doubt they all want me dead, Max. And they’ve got experience fighting the vord. He’d be a fool to leave them behind. He’ll handle them.”

“All right. But what if he doesn’t?”

Tavi stared out at the path ahead of them for a silent moment, and said, “Then... I’ll have to kill him. If I can.”

They hung on to the safety lines while the Slive bucked and shimmied over the ice. After a moment, Max put a hand on Tavi’s shoulder, then made his way carefully aft, to relay the heave-to command to Captain Demos.

CHAPTER 19

CHAPTER 18

For Amara, the next several hours were a desperate blur.