A Runa widowed at the massacre of Kashan, Kanchay takes the lead in getting surviving males and their offspring to sanctuary in the southern forests of Trucha Sai. Because she is wounded while saving his daughter Puska, Kanchay carries pregnant Sofia Mendes Quinn on his wounded back and makes sure she is eating on the long march. His philosophy is summed up: "Rain falls on everyone; lightning strikes some" (Chap. 2, p. 25). He explains to Sofia that Runa wear ribbons on their arms to prevent departed loved ones' ghosts from being distracted from where they should be. He also explains the Jana'ata rationale for the massacre, recounting the foundational myths of how the Runa first offer their children to be eaten as part of the duty of hospitality to strangers. Kanchay claims that the Jana'ata are now tamed: they eat only the old and infirm. He refuses to be led into rebellion by Sofia. When Hlavin Kitheri burns the southern towns visited by rebels to prove his power, Kanchay blames Supaari for the brutal acts of his fellow Jana'ata and nearly kills him.
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