Edge of Worlds (The Books of the Raksura) by Martha Wells

moved in reaction, and she nodded grimly to Delin. “I see.”
    Vendoin glanced around, making sure everyone had gotten a look, then began to wrap it up again.
    Callumkal said, “As Delin must have told you, some of us believe that the city this came from belonged to the species we call foundation builders, who lived in the Kishlands in the distant past. But some believe this object means it was a city of the people Delin calls forerunners. He told us you had discovered an ancient forerunner city, and that you had some words of caution.”
    Rorra interposed, “I wondered if you had any proof of this experience.”
    Delin gave Moon an ironic eyebrow lift and said in Raksuran, “Captain Rorra is very mistrustful. Apparently there are scholars who would have made the whole incident up, possibly with your help, for amusement or to gain attention.”
    Moon hissed under his breath. This meeting was already going badly, and he had no idea why. At least nobody’s actually dead yet .
    Chime made a derisive noise and said in Raksuran, “The incident wasn’t what I would call amusing.”
    Annoyed, Heart added, “They don’t want anything to come between them and their goal. They have their ideas, they don’t want facts to bother them.”
    Rorra said, “Speak in Altanic, please.”
    Jade tilted her head, and said in Altanic, “We’ll speak how we like.”
    Callumkal frowned, and said in Kedaic, “Captain, if this goes badly, you may need to return to the ship.”
    No one said anything, and Delin’s expression remained pleasantly bland. The Kish obviously didn’t realize that the Raksura could speak Kedaic. It was a common trade language throughout Kish, made up of words from all the various languages of the species who lived there, but Moon had heard it used in the east and the west, far past the Reaches.
    Rorra’s jaw went tight and she said nothing. Jade said, “We don’t have any evidence because the city flooded and was destroyed when we escaped it. It was designed to flood, to kill the creature inside if it managed to get free of its prison.”
    Vendoin had tucked the tile away into the bag and stood, and now spoke for the first time. Her voice was light and high, and it made the Altanic words sound almost melodic. “Was there some outward sign that the city held this creature? Some warning?” She gestured with an open hand. “I’m thinking of trading flags, and other such devices used by long-distance travelers.”
    That was a good question. Jade glanced at Moon to show she wanted him to answer. Jade apparently wanted to maintain an aggressive pose and leave the actual discussion to others. He wished he knew what had made her so angry all of a sudden. From Balm’s worried expression, he knew he wasn’t the only one wondering. He said, “If there was, we didn’t recognize it as a warning. There were symbols we thought were just decoration, but nothing that stood out.”
    Vendoin and Callumkal seemed to absorb this information thoughtfully, while Kalam and Rorra both looked shocked that Moon could talk. Why do groundlings do that? Moon wondered, irritated.
    Vendoin said, “You would think they would make it obvious that danger lay within, but there is no accounting for a strange species’ reasoning.” Her large eyes blinked, as she appeared to recall that the strange species was probably a Raksuran ancestor. She added, “No offense.”
    Moon shared a look with Chime, and decided the best course was just not to respond to that.
    Stone, clearly fed up with how everyone else was wasting time, said, “The Fell were the only ones who knew that thing was there, because it told them.”
    Rorra said, “And they told you.”
    “Oh, here we go,” Chime hissed under his breath in Raksuran. “This is like the Aventerans all over again.”
    “It’s not an uncommon reaction,” Moon said.
    Stone gave him a nudge with his shoulder. It was meant to be comforting, but Moon was still too irritated with Stone to