There was so very much in Zanru's terse rant that Gene could argue with - especially her point about family, he'd killed for his, he'd die for his with or without the resurrection magic, and he was related to none of them by blood - but if he did the same as Valdis, they'd lose her for sure and waste the only good lead they had. So it was up to him to be the diplomatic one.

Hooray.

"Zanru," he said to her back. "We came here to offer our help to Celaunn, and now we're offering it to you. As little as you think of us, this is our home, too. Your people are stuck here, and so are we, and we are all being invaded. There is nothing to be gained by pretending we don't have a stake in Keeliai. We want to work together."

He paused. "The kedan can defend themselves, as you did during the first invasion. But there's a saying where I come from: 'peace through superior firepower'. We are willing to add our firepower, figurative or literal, to yours."