“Kartaian,” she repeated, the word clumsy on her tongue. She lapsed back into silence, letting him rest his throat a little longer as she thought about what had just happened. A formidable enemy, these Kartaians. A million questions. Any other time she would have enjoyed a reprieve like this, basked in the silence and lay down to sleep, but her curiosity wouldn’t let her sit still for too long. “Besides stealth, is there any reason they only attack at night? Why can you do what they do? Are there others who can do that, too? And if it’s so dangerous to stay in the ruins, why haven’t you left like the others?” 

She could only stay silent for so long. If he wasn’t going to answer her, she’d keep throwing questions at him, anyway. She stood and paced, arms crossed. “And if my quarry had taken up with these—Kartaians—why would they let him in their confidence? They seem to be more than capable without him already, and I doubt they entertain promises of friendship. What could he have offered them that they’d be willing to work with him, to find [i]me[/i]?” 

Kire huffed. Times like this she wished her cousins were with her to throw ideas back at her. Daryll, especially. They didn’t want her pursuing him anymore: she could hear Jan’s voice, weary from having lost so much, and Daryll, too, who now, more than ever, had to be a big brother to his little sister. [i]If Ed were still with us he’d be mad at me, too.[/i] She stamped down the well of guilt before it could take over. 

“And what do I call [i]you?[/i]” she asked, turning to the stranger.