"Thanks to you," Kallatah said.
"It was not too difficult to predict the exact moment of the volcano's eruption," I said. "As for the post-hypnotic command—you could have done that too."
Kallatah turned and looked at me, her eyes strangely luminous. "Taro Hargon," she said. "I am going to tell you something. From the first moment I saw you I knew that you were a man."
I stared at her, wondering.
"It takes the courage and daring and resourcefulness of the Earthborn to do what you did. The Guiding Council realized that we on Tragor had need of the Earthborn too. Our heritage had worn too thin. So they selected a man of Terra with truly great gifts of body and mind to guide us all—"
I grew alarmed, still wondering how insecure my secret had become.
"Oh, you returned for a lark. Took to wandering again, as an Earthborn trader. For an hour and a day."
She laughed and her hands were suddenly busy at the flaps of my weather jacket, peeling them back to bring the shining insignia into view.
"Supreme Councillor and Guide," she whispered. "I knew it from the first."
"You knew—"