Kortha grinned again and waved a brown hand.
"My fight was with Guantra. I thought he was my friend. Perhaps one of you can tell me about—the Blue Grotto?"
They were all of them men from Guantra's flagship. Eagerly their mouths spilled words, reciting the tale Ilse already had told him. Kortha stared down at Guantra, grim-faced, silent. He sighed once when they were finished, and looked at Ilse.
"And I never knew," he said to her softly.
He spoke to the officers, "It was true, then. Guantra is and has been my enemy, and the enemy of all Mars. I am glad to know that." And he rubbed his right fist thoughtfully.
"Can you find it in your heart to forgive a fool?" he asked of Ilse.
There were tears in her eyes. She stumbled forward, was caught and crushed tight against him. His lips drank from hers, thirstily.
The officers moved their feet, embarrassed. Kortha looked at them across Ilse's platinum hair, and laughed.
"You'll forgive me a moment's humanity," he said. "There are no terms to give you. I am returning to the council. From here on out, Mars will take her place beside Earth and Venus. This time they won't back out of their agreements."