Free Triplet by Timothy Zahn

didn’t want you here alone.”
    Danae snorted. “Daddy Dear’s a chronic worrier, and paranoid on top of it. And if you listen to him—” She broke off suddenly. “Anyway, just because Hart’s here doesn’t mean there’s anything in particular to worry about. Especially while we’re on this side of the Tunnel.”
    Ravagin pondered for a moment. She was right, of course—whether her father was afraid of kidnappers or assassins or God knew what else, there was little chance such dangers could reach into the Hidden Worlds. And yet … “You’re probably right,” he admitted after a moment. “But I think we should take some extra precautions anyway, just in case. Hart’s veiled warnings may have been just talk, but he may have known something he didn’t want to tell me.”
    â€œThe bottom line being …?”
    â€œThe bottom line being that we’re going to cut short this part of the trip. Instead of the two-day tour of Missia City and the Feymar Protectorate I’d planned, we’re instead going to head directly to Darcane Forest and the Tunnel to Karyx.”
    Danae shrugged. “Fine with me—like I said, I’ve had all of Shamsheer that I want.”
    â€œI hope you can keep that attitude,” Ravagin warned. “In a lot of ways the laws and customs of Karyx are harder and more violent than those of Shamsheer.”
    â€œPerhaps—but at least there I won’t have the problem of being unarmed in an armed society.” She glanced pointedly at the scorpion glove dangling from his belt and got to her feet. “Well, if that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’m going to go get something to eat.”
    Ravagin felt his lip twitch as he looked up at her. “Help yourself,” he nodded. “I’m going to stay here a bit longer, I think. Remember that we’ll be heading out early in the morning, so don’t get to bed too late.”
    â€œNot likely,” she said dryly; and with a brief nod she was gone.
    Ravagin sighed as he settled back into his chair. So she wouldn’t be unarmed in an armed society, would she? He’d lost track of all the people he’d escorted to Karyx who’d started with that same confident—hell, arrogant —attitude. Who’d truly believed that their brief training had properly prepared them to command the spirits of that world.
    She’d learn. Eventually, they all did.
    Closing his eyes, he listened to the sounds of Kelaine City at play … and wondered how music and laughter could be so depressing.

Chapter 8
    T HEY LEFT JUST AFTER dawn the next morning, under the dour eye of one of the city’s justice officials, and headed eastward into the sun and a day that was promising to be as clear as the previous one had been. Again, Danae experienced a mild case of acrophobia as their sky-plane flew in and out of wispy clouds and the occasional flock of birds; but within a short time the fear left her, and she was even able to lean her forehead against the invisible edge barrier and gaze at the landscape below.
    It was, for the most part, fairly unremarkable. With Kelaine City behind them and the borders of Ordarl Protectorate still ahead, the area they were passing over was sparsely inhabited. There were occasional villages—most, Danae noted, equipped with stone or sharpened tree trunk walls to discourage robber gangs—each one surrounded by areas of cultivated land. But most of what she could see was the same type of undeveloped landscape that had been around the Tunnel exit. “Hard to believe they’ve been living here for four thousand years or more,” she commented.
    â€œHm?” Ravagin glanced over where she was looking. “Who?—oh; Shamsheer’s people? Well, I’d take that number with a cautionary footnote, if I were you.”
    â€œWhy? You think they haven’t been here that