Devoth seemed pleased to hear it. He looked at the other high-ranking Auldek seated nearby, making sure they took note of Rialus’s response. They were all of his clan, except Calrach; his son, Allek; and his half brother, Mulat. The fact that they were allowed to sit with Devoth’s people was a considerable honor. Allek, in particular, drew stares and whispers wherever he went. If Rialus had not known the reason for their astonishment he would have thought the boy a long-lost prince. He was more than that: he was a miracle to a people who had not seen a child of their race in hundreds of years. Calrach, always more canny than Rialus expected, had known what he was doing when he brought him along.

Allek, who sat in the row in front of Rialus and Devoth, turned around and jabbed Rialus’s leg. “Tell the truth, Neptos. Which is the richer people: Acacians or Auldek? I know what I would say, but what about you?”

Rialus had the momentary desire to kick the grinning youth in the face, but he answered the boy calmly. He had actually expected some question like this, considering how much pleasure the Numrek seemed to take in publicly taunting him. “I can’t answer that. I’ve seen most of the Known World, which is wide and rich and wondrous, but I’ve seen very little of Ushen Brae—as yet only Avina.”

“And what do you think of it?” Allek pushed.

“Very impressive,” Rialus admitted, “from what I’ve seen—”

“From what you’ve seen?” Mulat broke in. He had just bitten a piece of roasted pork taken from the plates of food that occasionally passed from hand to hand. His chewing did not hinder his speaking. “What you’ve seen is less than nothing. It’s but a sliver. Avina stretches along the coast for thirty miles. Thirty miles of city, of palaces and stadiums and monuments: there is nothing to match that in your lands.”

Devoth did not seem pleased with the Numrek presumptions. He did not address them, smiling instead at Rialus. “You will see more, Rialus Leagueman. Many grand things. You’re our guest, so you’ll see the things that make us great. We will always treat you well, now and in the future. You can be sure of it. You believe me?”

He had to push it, didn’t he? Rialus thought. They always did. It was one way the Auldek were not so different from their Numrek cousins.