Is this really necessary?
Yes. Bhellioms useless to you without both rings, and you may need it almost as soon as we lift it from the sea-floor.
Why?
She rolled her eyes upward and sighed. Because the whole world will shift just as soon as Bhelliom moves. When you were carrying it to Zemoch, the world quivered around like a plate of jelly the whole time. My family and I really dont like it when Bhelliom moves. It makes some of us queasy.
Will our enemies out there be able to pinpoint our location from that?
She shook her head. Its too generalized. Every God in the worlds going to know when Bhelliom starts to move, though, and we can be absolutely sure that at least some of them will come looking for it. Can we talk about this some other time?
What do you want me to do?
Just stand watch at the bedroom door. I dont like having an audience when Im stealing things.
You sound just like Talen.
Naturally. He and I were made for each other. It was the Gods who invented theft in the first place.
Youre not serious.
Of course. We steal things from each other all the time. Its a game. Did you think we just sat around on clouds basking in adoration? We have to do something to pass the time. You should try it sometime, father. Its lots of fun. She looked around furtively, crouched low and reached for the bedroom door-handle. Keep a lookout, Sparhawk. Whistle if you hear anybody coming.
They all gathered in the sitting room of the royal apartment the following morning to receive their final instructions from Emperor Sarabian and Queen Ehlana. It was a formality, really. Everybody knew what they were supposed to do already, so they sat in the sunlit room making generalized small-talk and cautioning each other to be careful. People who are parting from each other do that a lot.
Alcan, Queen Ehlanas doe-eyed maid, was in the next room, and she was singing. Her voice was clear and sweet and true, and all conversation in the sitting room broke off as she sang.
Its like listening to an angel, Patriarch Emban murmured.
The girl has a truly magnificent voice, Sarabian agreed.
She already has the court musicians in near-despair.
She seems a bit sad this morning, Kalten said, two great tears glistening in his eyes.
Sparhawk smiled faintly. Kalten had preyed on maids since he had been a young man, and few had been able to resist his blandishments. This time, however, the shoe was on the other foot. Alcan was not singing for her own entertainment. The brown-eyed girl was singing for an audience of one, and her song, dealing as it did with the sorrows of parting, filled Kaltens eyes. She sang of broken hearts and other extravagances in a very old Elenian ballad entitled My Bonnie Blue-Eyed Boy.
Then Sparhawk noticed that Baroness Melidere, Queen Ehlanas lady-in-waiting, was also watching Kalten very closely. Melideres eyes met Sparhawks and she slowly winked. Sparhawk almost laughed aloud. He was clearly not the only one who was aware of Alcans subtle campaign.
You will write, wont you, Sparhawk? Ehlana said.
Of course I will, he replied.
I can virtually guarantee that, your Majesty, Vanion said. If you give him just a little time, Sparhawks a great letter-writer. He devotes enormous amounts of time and effort to his correspondence.
Tell me everything, Sparhawk, the queen urged.
Oh he will, your Majesty, he will, Vanion assured her. Hell probably tell you more than you ever really wanted to know about the Isle of Tega.
Critic, Sparhawk muttered under his breath.
Please dont be too vivid in your description of our situation here, your Grace, Sarabian was saying to Emban. Dont make Dolmant think that my empires falling down around my ears.
Isnt it, your Majesty? EMBAN replied with some surprise.
I thought that was why I was dashing back to Chyrellos to fetch the Church Knights.
Well, maybe it is, but dont destroy my dignity entirely.
Dolmants very wise, your Majesty, Emban assured him. He understands the language of diplomacy.
Oh, really? Ehlana said with heavy sarcasm.
Should I convey your Majestys greetings to the Archprelate as well? Emban asked her.
Of course. Tell him that Im desolate at being separated from himparticularly in view of the fact that I cant keep an eye on him. You might also advise him that a little-known Elenian statute clearly says that I have to ratify any agreements he makes with the Earl of Lenda during my absence. Tell him not to get too comfortable in those pieces of my kingdom hes been snipping off since I left, because Ill just take them back again as soon as I get home.
Does she do this all the time, Sparhawk? Sarabian asked.
Oh yes, all the time, your Majesty. The Archprelate bites off all his fingernails every time a letter from her reaches the Basilica.
It keeps him young, Ehlana shrugged. She rose to her feet. Now, friends, she said, I hope youll excuse my husband and me for a few moments so that we can say our goodbyes privately. Come along, Sparhawk, she commanded.
Yes, my queen.
The morning fog had lifted, and the sun was very bright as their ship sailed out of the harbor and heeled over to take a southeasterly course which would round the southern tip of the Micaen peninsula to the Isle of Tega. The ship was well appointed, although she was of a slightly alien configuration. Khalad did not entirely approve of her, finding fault with her rigging and the slant of her masts.
It was about noon when Vanion came up on deck to speak with Sparhawk, who was leaning on the rail watching the coastline slide by. They were both wearing casual clothing, since there is no real need for formal garb on board ship. Sephrenia wants us all in the main cabin, the Preceptor told his friend. Its time for one of those startling revelations weve all come to love and adore. Why dont you round up the others and bring them on down?
Youre in a peculiar humor, Sparhawk noted. Whats the problem?
Sephrenias being excessively Styric today, Vanion shrugged.
That one escaped me.
You know the signs, Sparhawkthe mysterious expression, the cryptic remarks, the melodramatic pauses, the superior manner.
Have you two been fighting?
Vanion laughed. Never that, my friend. Its just that we all have little quirks and idiosyncrasies that irritate our loved ones sometimes. Sephrenias having one of her quirky days.
I wont tell her you said that, of course.
I wont tell her you said that, of course.
Vanion shrugged. She already knows how I feel. Weve discussed it in the pastat length. Sometimes she does it just to tease me. Go get the others, Sparhawk. Lets not give her too much time to perfect this performance.
They all gathered in the main salon below decks, a cabin which was part dining room and part lounge. Sephrenia had not put in her appearance as yet and, after a few moments, Sparhawk understood what Vanion had been talking about. A familiar sound began to emerge from the ladys cabin.
Flute? Talen exclaimed in astonishment, his voice cracking in that peculiar adolescent yodel which afflicts human males at the onset of puberty.
Sparhawk had wondered how Aphrael intended to get round the rather sticky problem of explaining her identity. To have appeared to the others as Princess Danae would quite obviously have been out of the question. Flute was quite another matter. His friends all recognized Flute as Aphrael, and that would eliminate the need for extended explanations. Sparhawk sighed as a rather melancholy thought occurred to him. He realized sadly that he didnt know what his daughter really looked like. That dear little face which was engraved on his mind almost as deeply as Ehlanas was only one in a long line of incarnationsone of thousands, more than likely.
Then the door to Sephrenias cabin opened, and the small Styric woman emerged with a smile that made her face look like the sun coming up, and with her little sister in her arms. Flute, of course, was unchangedand unchangeable. She appeared to be no more than six years oldprecisely the same age as Danae. Sparhawk immediately rejected the possibility of coincidence. Where Aphrael was concerned, there were no coincidences. She wore the same short linen smock belted at the waist and the same plaited grass headband that she had been wearing when they had first met her. Her long hair was as black as night, and her large eyes nearly as dark. Her little bare feet were grass-stained. She held a simple many-chambered set of goatherds pipes to her bow-like lips, and her song was Styric, set in a complex minor key.
What a pretty child, Ambassador Norkan observed, but is it really a good idea to take her along on this mysterious mission of yours, Prince Sparhawk? I gather there might be some danger involved.
Not now there wont be, your Excellency, Ulath grinned.
3
Ehlana and Sarabian had gone to the top of the central tower of the glowing castle, ostensibly to admire the sunset. Despite the fact that the castle was firmly in Elene hands, there were still enough Tamuls inside the walls to require a certain amount of care when the two wanted to speak privately.
It all comes down to the question of power, Sarabian, Ehlana told the Emperor in a pensive voice. The fact that its there has to be the central fact of our lives. We can either take it into our own hands, or leave it lying around unused, but if we choose not to use it, we can be sure that someone else will. Her tone was subdued and her pale young face almost somber.
Youre in a melancholy humor today, Ehlana, Sarabian noted.
I dont like being separated from Sparhawk. There were too many years of that after Aldreas exiled him. The point I was getting at is that youre going to have to be very firm so that the people in your government will understand that things have changed. What youll really be doing here is seizing power. Thats an act of revolution, you know. She smiled faintly. Youre almost too civilized to be a revolutionary, Sarabian. Are you really sure you want to overthrow the government?
Good God, Ehlana, its my government, and the power was mine in the first place.
But you didnt use it. You were lazy and self-indulgent, and you let it slip away. Your ministers have filched your authority bit by bit. Now youre going to have to wrest it back from them. People dont willingly give up power, so youll probably have to kill some of your ministers in order to prove to the rest that youre serious.
Thats the ultimate expression of power, Sarabian, and your situation here requires a certain ruthlessness. Youre going to have to spill some blood in order to get your governments attention.