"Rakhal works against the Son of the Ape," he said, using the insulting
Wolf term for the Terrans. "If we help you to kill him, we remove a goad
from their flanks. I prefer to let the filthy _Terranan_ spend their
strength trying to remove it themselves. Moreover, I believe you are
yourself an Earthman.
"You have no right to the courtesy I extend to we, the People of the
Sky. Yet you have drunk wine with me and I have no quarrel with you." He
raised his hand in dismissal, outfencing me. "Leave my roof in safety
and my city with honor."
I could not protest or plead. A man's _kihar_, his personal dignity, is
a precious thing in Shainsa, and he had placed me so I could not
compromise mine further in words. Yet I lost _kihar_ equally if I left
at his bidding, like an inferior dismissed.
One desperate gamble remained.
"A word," I said, raising my hand, and while he half turned, startled,
believing I was indeed about to compromise my dignity by a further plea,
I flung it at him:
"I will bet _shegri_ with you.
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