Free Heroes Return by Moira J. Moore Page A

it became clear that admiration was not what motivated him.
    “You’re the duke’s kin,” the man accused Taro. “You were supposed to take the title after him.”
    That was what they were angry about? What the hell? He didn’t even know Taro. Why would he want Taro as the titleholder?
    “Now, Leland,” Dane said in what was clearly the beginning of a placating comment.
    “You whisht,” Leland snapped, shocking the hell out of me. Was that any way to talk to his duke? “Not talking to you. I’m talking to you.” He nodded at Taro. “You’re of the family. This is your home. These things mean nothing to you?”
    Actually, they probably didn’t, but Taro wasn’t stupid. He wasn’t going to admit to feelings either way in this situation. “I wasn’t born to be a duke, Leland. And I was never trained for it. I was born to be a Source.”
    “Family is more important than any of that tripe.”
    I couldn’t believe he could feel that way after the community had lost two children to earthquakes. Did they really not understand what Sources did?
    “Didn’t they teach you anything about loyalty in that fancy school of yours?”
    They certainly did. Loyalty to the Triple S.
    “What I didn’t learn, at the Academy or anywhere else, was the first thing about taking care of a duchy of this or any size.”
    “It’s not about what you know,” Leland said. “It’s what you are. It’s your blood.”
    “It’s your duty,” a woman added. “Our families have given your family everything we’ve got for generations. You can’t just step out of your obligations because something more interesting comes along.”
    “I’m a Source,” Taro protested. “I can’t be a titleholder.”
    “You could if you gave a damn,” the woman accused him. “It’s been done.”
    “That’s enough,” I warned her. Yes, it had been done. I knew of Sources who’d taken hereditary titles. But there weren’t many, and the Sources involved hadn’t actually lived in the lands of the estates. And none of this gave these people the right to attack Taro. It didn’t even make sense to want Taro as a titleholder. Fiona had experience running an estate in Centerfield. Didn’t they know their own best interests?
    “Is it you, then?” the woman demanded, looking at me. “Are you keeping him from taking his rightful place?”
    “I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to.”
    “I have no training,” Taro insisted.
    “It’s not training. It’s blood.”
    “Fi—Her Ladyship shares my father’s blood.”
    “She’s not a direct heir. You are. It was your duty to come here. And since you’ve neglected your duty, the sea has gotten angry. Deaths are up and numbers are down.”
    Please tell me these people didn’t actually believe the sea was capable of having moods.
    “That’s not true,” Dane objected. “I’ve shown you the books. There have been no more casualties than earlier years, and the catches have remained similar.”
    “Books.” The man spat in an expression of contempt. “You can write whatever you want in books. I know what I’ve seen. We all have eyes.”
    “And we never had earthquakes before,” the woman added. “You can’t write that away in your books.”
    “And now we have a Pair to deal with the earthquakes,” Dane reminded them. “Source Karish can’t have both responsibilities.”
    “If he’d come when he was supposed to, we would have never had any earthquakes, and Parcin Woodward and Jeeno Drake wouldn’t have died.”
    I wasn’t brave enough to tell these hostile people that I was actually the person responsible for the deaths of those children. I was the one who had convinced Taro not to channel the events from Flown Raven. All right, so I hadn’t known the events Taro had been feeling in High Scape had been from Flown Raven, but I’d made no effort to find out. I should have.
    “I’m sorry you feel ill-used,” said Taro. “But there is nothing to be done about it now. The