Текст книги "Falcon Guard"

Автор книги: Роберт Торстон

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Selima was praised among Elementals for his rescue of the Clan warrior, but received no commendations or medals. Even those MechWarriors who knew of his name and his deed soon forgot all about him. Except for one MechWarrior. Diana never forgot him.

* * *

As soon as her 'Mech took the missile hit, Diana blanked out, coming to only long enough to hear the exchange between Joanna and Aidan. She tried to protest, but could not focus her speech coherently. What had possessed Joanna to tell Aidan Pryde who she was? The next moment she was dreaming that Aidan was in her village, living with Peri. Diana was a small child, so small she did not seem capable of speech. She wanted to talk to her father, but she could not speak. She could not even make a coherent noise. He spoke to her. She saw his mouth move, but she could not hear what he was saying. She was sitting on a rug. He reached toward her to pick her up, and suddenly she was looking at the visored face of Elemental Star Commander Selima. He was in her cockpit. What was an Elemental doing in her cockpit? They were not allowed there, were they? She could not move. In the darkness Selima's high cheekbones seemed more pronounced. He did not see her looking at him. Her eyes closed again.

In the new dream, Selima was talking with Aidan. Selima said that he wished to be Diana's father and asked Aidan to declare him her father. Aidan refused. Aidan said she was not his daughter, but he would not allow anyone else to have her for a daughter either. She screamed that she had to have a father somewhere, did she not? He said no. He said she was a trueborn, like him. Trueborns did not have parents. They were true-borns and they were warriors, he said. For some reason, his words made her feel good.

She woke up again and saw that Selima had carried her out of the cockpit. She heard her father's voice ordering Selima to take her to the DropShip. She tried to talk, to shout to her father that he need not accept her as his daughter. But her voice was gone and she was drifting back into sleep.

Later, after her citations, she thought back to that moment and wished that her voice had not, like her BattleMech, been disabled.

* * *

Star Colonel Aidan Pryde noticed with some amusement that neither his primary screen nor his secondary one showed any information. The effect, in this dark Tukayyidan night, was something like pillow-fighting in the dark. He was shooting off clusters, launching missiles, firing pulsing beams at targets that were only shadows in his viewport. Perhaps Horse had been right about this Timber Wolf.Perhaps it was jinxed. Something in it always seemed to be going off track or not functioning at all.

"You cannot get back to the Raptor,Aidan Pryde," Kael Pershaw said. "Why in the name of the Kerenskys did you delay? Just to allow time for one Elemental to rescue one MechWarrior? It makes no sense to me."

"Remain puzzled, Kael Pershaw."

Aidan wondered if he were really hearing Kael Pershaw or whether the voice was in his mind. It must be the real thing. No one would want to imagine Kael Pershaw.

What would Pershaw say if he knew that the rescued MechWarrior was Aidan's daughter? Kael Pershaw, after all, was one of the most virulent haters of freeborns.

Aidan had learned that back on Glory Station when he had endured Pershaw's trenchant and devastating insults against all freeborns.

The two of them might even have a long argument about how the rescue was not the way of the Clan. Aidan might have to explain about the jade phoenix. He might have to say that the rescue was another incarnation of the rise from the flames, this time with Diana being given the chance.

All Aidan Pryde knew was that he was satisfied about the MechWarrior's rescue. That was enough. There was no time now to consider anything else.

When a cluster of missiles exploded against the Timber Wolfsright leg, he felt it shift a bit. When he tried to make the leg move, it did not respond. What did it matter? There was nowhere he could go.

He wondered how much ammunition he had left.

"To your right, Aidan Pryde, fifteen degrees," Kael Pershaw said. Aidan fired.

"Good. A head hit. That one is down. It was a Rifleman.Now, twenty-five degrees the opposite direction. Launch a missile salvo. Good. Direct hit. You hit one in the torso, the other near the cockpit. I think it is going down."

A blast of heat rushed over him like wave. The targeting system for his right-arm weapons shorted out, then the one for his left. He was out of missiles. Another hit on his legs made the surface of his Timber Wolfseem to shudder. But it did not fall.

Kael Pershaw's voice had stopped. Aidan discovered that the small laser in his left torso still worked. He kept firing it. Outside the viewport there was a huge flash. He had hit something.

There was no way he could come out of this battle alive. The flames would envelop him again. For one of the few times in his life, he laughed. Firing blindly, he laughed again when he felt the reverberations of a nearby ComStar BattleMech exploding. Another blast, and another 'Mech went down.

His death could not be fearful, he thought. Was he not, as Marthe had said, the jade phoenix?

Epilogue

"Joanna, when you told my father the truth about me– why did you do it?"

"I am not sure. I could not let the moment pass. Perhaps I have grown so old that my judgment is impaired."

"I would not say that. I mean, look at the way you whipped the Falcon Guards into shape, then ran the unit with so much precision during the Tukayyid battles."

"I did my duty, Diana."

"More than that. What of all the commendations you won?"

"Meaningless. We lost the battle, did we not? We must now accept a disgusting fifteen-year truce period, playing the part of mere occupation troops on the worlds we conquered instead of advancing victoriously toward Terra."

"All true, but the Falcon Guards distinguished themselves on Tukayyid."

"And most died, too."

"Yes, but no one can say the Jade Falcons did not fight well. Except for Clans Wolf and Ghost Bear, all the others lost their fights. Our campaign was at least judged a draw."

"A draw is a loss for the Clans, especially since Clan Wolf was victorious. And I am no better off now than before. They have demoted me back to Star Commander."

"And what about the honors awarded my father?"

Star Commander Joanna paused for a moment. "Yes," she said, "They were impressive. Very impressive indeed."

* * *

Diana, Joanna, Horse, and the remnants of the Falcon Guards were called back to the Jade Falcon planet of Ironhold. Not having been informed of the reason for the summoning, they were astounded by the respect with which they were addressed and the honors showered on them once they arrived. During the course of the ceremonies, they heard words that the Falcon Guards, led by courageous Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, had so distinguished themselves in the Tukayyid campaign that they had earned a prominent place in the history of the Clans, even some lines in The Remembrance.Although the name of Twycross was never mentioned officially, it was clear that the shame of the Great Gash had been washed clean.

But the best ceremony was saved for last. The Falcon Guards were summoned to a large building that stood alone on the shore of a beach whose sands shone even whiter in the bright sun. The light glittered and danced over the sands almost as much as it did on the waters.

The broad two-storey building stretched from one end of the beach to the other, built just in front of a landscaped, almost sculpted, woodland preserve. The trees were heavy with leaves and their bark looked scrubbed. As the group flew in over the building, Diana caught sight of a colorful garden nestled deep among the trees.

"What is this place?" she asked Horse, as they stood in front of the building's thick gray metal doors. Diana was enthralled by the door's many engraved symbols, none of which she could interpret.

"It is a gene storage center. Genes of Jade Falcon warriors are kept in large underground vaults, where they are tended by the scientist caste."

"Horse, you have been speaking without contractions for a long while. You are impressed, I can see that. Why?"

Horse only shrugged at first, then seemed to reflect briefly. "I am not sure, but I think it has something to do with forbidden territories."

Diana frowned. "Forbidden territories? What does that mean?"

"Diana, we are freeborns, and no one wants us ever to forget it. Trues walk among us like gods, dispensing favors and granting privileges. Their way may be wrong, but it is the life we live and to which we adapt, especially those of us who are warriors. I would change it if I could."

"I would not. I am happy enough as a warrior."

"Happy, a strange word. But yes, you are meant for exactly the life you lead. As am I. But we will never be the gods. That is the way of the Clans."

"I should not want to be a god. All this genetic stuff and the honor that goes with it, it is too much responsibility. I prefer to mount the cockpit of a BattleMech and do my job. That is all the life I need."

Horse's eyebrows raised quizzically. "You are young. And lucky. You have yet to experience some of what I have as a freeborn or what your father did when he pretended to be one of us."

"Horse! You knew he was my father. How? Did Joanna tell you?"

The bearded warrior made a face. "Hardly. Joanna is not likely to impart any important secrets to me. No, I saw his face in yours the first time I laid eyes on you."

"And you said nothing to him?"

"No. I knew that if he wanted to find out, he would."

"Thank you, I think. But what about this place, Horse? Why does our being born differently make you hold the gene center in such awe?"

"This is where the trueborns come from. That makes it magical. Whether or not the scientists do create such perfect warriors as they think through stirring up the genes, the magic of it starts here. The essences of two warriors are mixed together with a wand, dropped into the magic hat, and the future trueborns of the sibko fly out of it.

"As a freeborn, I may think my lot sometimes unfair, but I am not immune to magic. If it is awe that I feel for this place, then that must be the reason why. It is like a church, but not just any church—perhaps a church from medieval times on Terra, with high spires, crouching gargoyles, saints grasping mitres and orbs, clerestories with birds flying in and out. The medieval church had its awesome mysteries, and the gene center has its own. Am I confusing you enough, MechWarrior Diana?"

"Definitely. You do often speak strangely, Horse. As if your words come from another place."

"And, in truth, they do."

"Now what are you saying?"

"I will show you after the ceremony," he said, smiling mysteriously.

* * *

Horse kept his word. He showed Diana the secret library of print-on-paper books that Aidan Pryde had carried with him everywhere. He told her about how he and Aidan had snatched time to read them, of how they had discussed them quietly—away from the other warriors– usually in the dark of night. He told her of how they had to be so careful in their conversations with others not to reveal what they had learned in the books.

"These volumes are also full of awesome mysteries, Diana. Your father often admitted that he did not completely understand them, especially anything connected with bizarre social customs like parenthood."

Diana flipped through the pages of several books, picking up first one, then another, then another, eventually filling her arms with them.

"I cannot understand some of the words, and some of the names are mouthfuls. But you are right, Horse. They are impressive. Would you let me read some?"

"They belonged to your father. Now they are yours, Diana. You can take over the tedious work of transporting them from place to place. I am happy to be quit of that particular duty."

Not knowing what to say, Diana said nothing. Instead she immediately sat down and began trying to make sense out of one of the books. When she became aware of her surroundings again, several minutes later, Horse was gone.

* * *

At the gene center Joanna, resplendent in ceremonial robes decorated with an array of colorful feathers, joined Diana and Horse, who were also in formal dress.

Joanna peered at the insignia on the uniform partially revealed beneath Horse's robe.

"You have been promoted, I see," she said to Horse. He merely nodded in response. "Star Commander Horse. That is a real tongue-twister. And uncomfortable in the bargain. Considering our past, I will find it hard to get used to."

"Perhaps I will be transferred."

"Let us hope so. Years ago, I would never have expected that we would one day share the same rank."

"For what it is worth, Joanna, I think that it was wrong of them to reject your field promotion because of age, after your valorous—"

"Shut up, Star Commander. I still am senior enough to berate you."

The ushers had opened the magnificent doors of the gene center, and the group was waved inside. They were led through long, barely lit halls whose undecorated walls seemed curious to Diana. After the ornate entrance, she had expected a similar magnificence inside.

A large platform took the group downward, into the depths of the building. The platform stopped and three of its walls seemed to drop away, revealing a sight that made even a veteran warrior like Joanna draw in a quick, astonished breath.

They were standing in a large hall, so enormous that its wall seemed kilometers apart. But the Falcon Guards were not concerned with the walls or their whereabouts. What dazzled them was the crowd of people seated in tiered benches all around the hall.

Scanning the multitude, Diana realized that almost all the Bloodnamed warriors of the entire Jade Falcon Clan were present. The audience, if that was what it was, maintained a dignified silence as the ushers led the Falcon Guards from the platform to a massive center table whose legs were sculpted to duplicate the legs of a BattleMech. Some people were already seated at the table. Diana saw her mother, Peri, standing behind the table among a group of scientists. Like the others, she wore the long, flowing white robe with black piping that was formal dress for members of the scientist caste. Although not surprised to see her mother in the gene center, Diana did wonder why she was present for this ceremony and dressed so ceremonially.

* * *

Joanna strode up to the table and peered into the eyes of a bald man whose face was heavily lined, its wrinkles crisscrossed with a series of deep scars. He wore crisp fatigues.

"Nomad," she said, "is that you?"

"I see you still have good vision, Joanna. For an old person, I mean."

"Rudeness and sarcasm. It could only be Nomad. They told me you were killed."

"I nearly was. You see the proof of it on my face. I was trapped under some girders for several days. But I will tell you about all that later. They are about to begin the ceremony."

The Falcon Guards took seats around the table, but only those who had fought on Tukayyid had been invited. The new replacements, none of them misfits, none of them too old, had been left behind.

In the welcoming rituals the Falcon Guards were again praised for their many acts of courage and honor at Robyn's Crossing, their near-victory at Olalla, and their dogged defense during the Prezno Plain retreat. Many warriors stood up and delivered heartfelt encomiums. If doubt remained in anyone's mind about the vindication of the Falcon Guards, it faded away during these speeches. Then Marthe Pryde stepped forward. "It is my honor to serve as Loremaster for House Pryde and I am especially honored to guide the officers of Clan Jade Falcon in the ritual we perform this day. Ferocious bravery is the hallmark of all Clan warriors, but at times there are those who transcend even that. These warriors deserve particular praise and a special place in the history of the Clan."

"Seyla," whispered several warriors seated among the tiers. Some others immediately echoed them, the word "Seyla" spoken slightly louder. Then it was the assembled multitude who joined in. "Seyla!" they shouted, the chorus of voices deep and strong.

"Such a warrior was Star Colonel Aidan Pryde." Diana looked at Joanna, whose face remained expressionless. As far as the young warrior knew, Joanna, Peri, and now Horse were the only people in this room who knew that she was Aidan Pryde's daughter. What fantastic luck, she thought, to be included in this ceremony so accidentally, as just a member of the Falcon Guards.

While Marthe was ceremoniously naming the exploits of Aidan Pryde (only the heroic ones, none of the tainted episodes), Diana felt many mixed emotions. She rued not having had more chance to get to know her father, especially regretting falling into unconsciousness just at the moment he finally learned of her identity. He had fought to protect her, to save her, but he was dead by the time she regained full consciousness.

He had dispatched so many Com Guard BattleMechs that the exact number could not even be recorded on his codex. Yet, pleased as she secretly was to see him elevated to such high status, Diana wished she could have seen his face when he had learned who she was, wished she might have talked to him about how she had imagined him throughout her childhood and even decided to become a warrior because of him. It was not Clanlike to be sentimental, and Diana was not sentimental. She had never expected that Aidan would accept her as his offspring in any way. That would not have been the way of the Clan, after all. It was just that she wished simply that they might have spoken together once.

"And finally," Loremaster Marthe Pryde was saying, "it was the leadership of Aidan Pryde that kept the retreating Jade Falcons from being destroyed by the enemy. He and his Falcon Guards courageously held the line against the Com Guards. Because Aidan Pryde and the Falcon Guards destroyed so many ComStar BattleMechs, Clan Jade Falcon did not lose the battle, but earned a draw. For that act alone, he deserves all the honors we can bestow upon him."

"Seyla," called out the assembled warriors.

"With the approval of Khan Chistu and by a unanimous vote of the Clan Jade Falcon Council, the giftakeof Aidan Pryde will give life to the next generation of Jade Falcon warriors."

Diana was astonished at these words. Even the normally impassive face of Joanna showed a flicker of surprise. More often than not, the giftake,a gene sample taken from a dead warrior, would be stored for years before transfer to the active gene pool—if ever.

"Do you realize the honor?" Joanna whispered to Diana, leaning in toward her.

"I am not sure."

"The genes of Aidan Pryde will enter the active gene pool immediately, without the customary interval between acceptance of the genes and judgment that they may be used to form sibkos. Diana, it is among the highest honors."

Marthe Pryde raised her right hand and gestured toward a control panel raised on a dais next to the black wall to her right. A tech came forward and manipulated several buttons and switches of the panel. With a tremulous groan, the wall began to come open, gradually revealing an honor guard standing on either side of a rather short woman wearing the uniform of the scientist caste. The woman was quite old, a shock to Diana, who had seen old people so rarely since her village days. In the warrior caste, those considered old were about half the age of this woman.

The woman was holding a small wooden box of black wood set on a black cloth. Engraved on the top of the box was a delicately rendered picture of a swooping jade falcon. Falcons were also stitched into the edges of the black cloth.

Slowly, in precisely measured steps, the woman walked forward, the honor guard forming up behind her. With the honor guard's change in formation was revealed another figure, a man wearing the plain uniform of the active warrior instead of ceremonial dress. The uniform was crisply starched and decorated with many medals and honor patches. This was a warrior with long service, Diana thought.

"Who is he?" she whispered to Joanna.

As the man limped into the dim light, which revealed his half-mask, she knew that she had heard of this particular warrior many times.

"His name is Kael Pershaw. He must be here to represent the Khan. Notice what he is carrying."

In his good hand Kael Pershaw was holding a black leather folder that, Diana realized immediately, must carry the official papers relating to the ceremony.

"He looks like a ghost," she observed.

"Some think he isa ghost."

The procession stopped in front of the table. Led by Peri, the entourage of scientists that had been standing behind the table came around to meet the woman carrying the box.

"Do you carry the spawn of the honorable warrior, Aidan Pryde?" Peri asked the woman.

"This box contains the spawn of Aidan Pryde," the woman replied.

"I am empowered to accept the spawn of Aidan Pryde. I do so, conscious of the honor it confers upon me."

Peri accepted the box from the woman, who bowed slightly and moved to the side. As Peri turned, the honor guard formed around her and the other scientists. Marthe Pryde gestured toward the opposite wall, where a tech operated the controls to open it.

As the two sections of the wall parted, they revealed a black cabinet about two meters high. Above the cabinet was a series of holograms picturing the jade falcon in various stages of flight.

Peri walked slowly to the cabinet, with the cadre of scientists and the honor guard keeping deliberate pace with her. Kael Pershaw, in spite of his poor leg, also managed to keep an even, ceremonial distance from the others. For years afterward the transfer of the spawn of Aidan Pryde was vividly remembered because of the phantasmal presence of Kael Pershaw.

At the cabinet Peri stopped. Another scientist activated a mechanism on the side of the cabinet and its top slid open. From inside a small shelf rose up. Peri held the box toward the cabinet and said, "I offer the genetic legacy of Aidan Pryde for the Clan Jade Falcon gene pool. The legacy of this noble warrior is of fine heritage, with outstanding skill and splendid courage. Clan Jade Falcon benefits greatly by the acceptance of this genetic legacy. "

Then she placed the box on the shelf and stepped back. The people behind her separated so that Kael Pershaw could come forward. Holding up the leather folder, he spoke in a solemn but oratorical voice. "This folder contains the official documents of honor for Aidan Pryde, whose codex shows him to be among those Jade Falcon warriors who have particularly distinguished themselves in virtuous combat." He placed the folder beside the genetic legacy container on the shelf. The shelf descended into the cabinet, whose top then closed.

The entourage turned and walked away from the cabinet. The walls closed behind them.

"All hail the genetic legacy of Aidan Pryde," Marthe shouted.

"Seyla!" sang out the assembled warriors. "All hail his deeds in battle."

"Seyla!"

"All hail his life as a Jade Falcon warrior."

"Seyla!"

As Marthe continued to lead the ritual, Diana glanced at Joanna, wondering what she was thinking, especially the part about Aidan's life as a noble Clan warrior. Was she thinking of the taint that had clung to him, now officially removed by this ceremony?

As the ritual ended, a hush fell over the assembled crowd, broken suddenly when a warrior several rows behind Diana stood up abruptly.

"I am Star Colonel Caro Pryde of Trinary Bravo of the Twelfth Jade Falcon Cluster, and I herewith nominate my finest warrior, MechWarrior Isak, to compete in the Trial of Bloodright for the most honorable Bloodname bequeathed to the Jade Falcons by the warrior Aidan Pryde."

Before Marthe could even respond, two other Jade Falcon warriors from House Pryde had stood up.

"I am Star Commander Darya Pryde of Trinary Charlie of the Second Jade Falcon Cluster, and I herewith nominate the brave and distinguished MechWarrior Novalis to compete in the Trial of Bloodright for the most honorable and eternally admirable Bloodname bequeathed to the Jade Falcons by the warrior Aidan Pryde."

"I am Star Captain Mansoor Pryde of Trinary Echo of the Fifteenth Jade Falcon Cluster, and I herewith nominate the gallant and superbly resourceful Star Commander Velyn to compete in the Trial of Bloodright for the most deserving and honored Bloodname bequeathed to the Jade Falcon lineage by the warrior Aidan Pryde."

At first Diana marveled at the subtlety with which the various warriors of House Pryde embellished their nominations, as each one rose to offer his or her candidate for the valorous lineage of Aidan Pryde's Bloodname. However, as the ceremony continued, she could not hold back tears. This was her father and, though it was not the way of the Clan, Diana was happy at the unprecedented renown that had come to him and his name on this day, a day she would remember forever.

Finally she was at peace with Aidan Pryde. They had known each other only in her mind, and that indeed was enough.

* * *

After the ceremony, when all had returned to the upper levels of the gene center, Peri stepped out from a doorway to confront Diana.

"So," she said, "It seems you found your father."

"He never knew who I was, except perhaps at the very end of his life, and I am not sure about that."

"You look well. Being a warrior has made you even more beautiful."

"I do not care about that."

"I know you do not. But at this moment I wonder what you must be feeling toward me."

"I do not understand the question. You are my mother."

"And what does such a concept mean to you, as one who comes from a union that has muddled both the true-born and freeborn concepts of parenthood? I am asking you as a scientist whose lifework has been the study of genetic heritages in and out of the sibko."

Diana shuddered involuntarily. "You are like him, you know, like Aidan Pryde, distant."

"Do not forget that I, too, was once a warrior cadet," Peri said. "I am trueborn. If I seem distant, it may be only because of that. But tell me how you interpret parenthood."

"Well ... I do not know what to say. During this ceremony I felt confused. I am too trueborn to be a freeborn, too freeborn to be a trueborn. I am some kind of misfit and maybe that is what he meant!"

"What who meant?"

"Aidan Pryde. I asked him why I was a Falcon Guard, and he merely said because he wanted me there. Maybe he sensed that I belonged with the Guards because I was as much a misfit as the rest, caught between two worlds."

Peri nodded and began to walk away. "Is that all?" Diana called after her.

Peri turned and smiled in a way that was neither true-born or freeborn. "You have given me my answer."

"May I come to see you in a few days, and you can explain it to me?"

"No."

Peri turned around and strode away, leaving Diana still saying, "Mother?"

* * *

The ceremony over, Marthe Pryde was alone in the large hall. She stared at the wall behind which Aidan's genetic legacy had taken its place as part of the gene pool.

She remembered that she and Aidan were to meet after the battle in the quarters of one or the other. It was too bad, she thought, that the meeting had never taken place. In some way, it would have rounded out both their lives, from the sibko to their brief reunion.

Well, she thought, it did not happen. Tears had sprung to her eyes during the giftakeritual, but she would forget Aidan Pryde now. There was too much to do.

A shuffling sound in the darkness made her rise quickly, ready to fend off any attack.

Looking more spectral than ever, Kael Pershaw came into the dim light.

"You did well, Marthe Pryde," he said. "The ceremony was stirring; the nominations for Bloodright were positively inspiring."

"What will happen now? What of the Clans? Must we be content to merely administer the conquered worlds while this fifteen-year truce drags on?"

"Oh, I am sure we will find reasons to fight someone. If not the Inner Sphere, some other enemy. We are of the Clans, after all. We are warriors. We fight. That is the way—"

"I know. The way of the Clan. But is that all, Kael Pershaw? Honor and combat and Bloodnames and Bloodrights?"

"Is that not enough for you, Marthe Pryde?"

"For me, Kael Pershaw? Yes, enough for me."

"Then it is enough."

"Seyla," Marthe whispered, then swept by Kael Pershaw out of the hall.

* * *

"I had not expected the ceremony to be quite so impressive," Joanna told Diana. "I stopped Kael Pershaw when it was over and asked him if he had influenced the decision to transfer the genetic legacy so soon."

"And?"

"He acted like Kael Pershaw. He refused to speak with me. He just reached up his hand, made some tiny adjustment to that foul mask of his, and walked away. I hated that man when I served under him at Glory Station, and I hate him even more now."

"But you say you hate everyone, even me."

"Well, perhaps not you, Diana. You are no prize, but I do not feel a trace of hatred for you. As for everyone else, well, yes, I suppose I hate most of them."

"What about my father? What about Aidan Pryde?"

Joanna seemed to ponder the question. "He was a different sort of warrior, that is certain. When he first arrived on Ironhold with his sibko I predicted that he would test out all the way. And so he did."

"Did you like him then?"

"No, I did not like him. Sometimes I hated him morethan anyone else."

Seeing the disappointment Diana could not hide, Joanna was amazed at the contradictions in this superb warrior. Why did she care about a father whom she had merely observed from afar?

"But I think I hated him less than most," Joanna went on. "Definitely. I hated him less than most."

Diana smiled, then frowned.

"He tested out all the way," Joanna said.