Domes of Fire by David Eddings

taken a dislike to each other?’

‘It probably would have been messy.’

‘When do you want to leave, Ehlana, Queen of Elenia?’ Engessa asked.

Ehlana looked at her friends questioningly. ‘Tomorrow?’ she suggested. ‘You

should not ask, Ehlana-Queen,’ Engessa reprimanded her firmly. ‘Command. If

any object, have Sparhawk-Champion kill them.’

‘We’ve been trying to cut back on that, Atan Engessa,’ she said. ‘It’s

always so hard on the carpeting.’

‘Ah,’ he said. ‘I knew there was a reason. Tomorrow then?’

‘Tomorrow, Engessa.’

‘I will await you at first light, Ehlana-Queen.’ And he turned on his heel

and marched from the room. ‘Abrupt sort of fellow, isn’t he?’ Stragen

noted. ‘He doesn’t waste any words,’ Tynian agreed. ‘A word with you,

Sparhawk?’ Kring said. ‘Of course.’

‘You will serve as my Oma, won’t you?’

‘Of course.’

‘Don’t pledge too many horses.’ Kring frowned. ‘What did he mean when he

was talking about branding?’ Sparhawk suddenly remembered. ‘It’s an Atan

wedding custom. During the ceremony the happy couple is branded. Each wears

the mark of the other.’

‘Branded?’

‘So I understand.’

‘What if a couple doesn’t get along? ‘I imagine they cross out the brand.

‘How do you cross out a brand?’

‘Probably with a hot iron. Are you still bent on marriage, Kring?’

‘Find out where the brand goes, Sparhawk. I’ll know better once I have

that information.’

‘I gather there are places where you’d rather not be branded?’

‘Oh, yes. There are definitely places, Sparhawk.’

They left Darsas at first light the following morning and rode eastward

toward Pela on the steppes of central Astel. The Atans enclosed the column,

loping easily to match the speed of the horses. Sparhawk’s concerns about

the safety of his queen diminished noticeably. Mirtai had very briefly even

peremptorily – advised her owner that she would travel with her

countrymen. She did not precisely ask. A rather peculiar change had come

over the golden giantess. That wary tension which had always characterised

her seemed to have vanished. ‘I can’t exactly put my finger on it,’ Ehlana

confessed about mid-morning when they were discussing it. ‘She just doesn’t

seem quite the same.’

‘She isn’t, your Majesty,’ Stragen told her. ‘She’s come home, that’s all.

Not only that, the presence of adults allows her to take her natural place

in her own society. She’s still a child – in her own eyes at least. She’s

never talked about her childhood, but I gather it wasn’t a time filled with

happiness and security. Something happened to her parents, and she was sold

into slavery.’

‘All of her people are slaves, Milord Stragen,’ Melidere objected. ‘There

are different kinds of slavery, Baroness. The slavery of the Atan race by

the Tamuls is institutionalised. Mirtai’s is personal. She was taken as a

child, enslaved and then forced to take her own steps to protect herself.

Now that she’s back among the Atans, she’s able to recapture some sense of

her childhood.’ He made a wry face. ‘I never had that opportunity, of

course. I was born into a different kind of slavery, and killing my father

didn’t really liberate me.’

‘You concern yourself overmuch about that, Milord Stragen,’ Melidere told

him. ‘You really shouldn’t make the issue of your unauthorised conception

the central fact of your whole existence, you know. There are much more

important things in life.’ Stragen looked at her sharply, then laughed, hiS

expression a bit sheepish. ‘Do I really seem so selfpitying to you,

Baroness?’

‘No, not really, but you always insist on bringing it up. Don’t worry at

it so much, Milord. It doesn’t make any difference to the rest of us, so

why brood about it?’

‘You see, Sparhawk,’ Stragen said. ‘That’s exactly what I meant about this

girl. She’s the most dishonest person I’ve ever known.’

‘milord Stragen.’ Melidere protested. ‘But you are, my dear Baroness,’

Stragen grinned. ‘You don’t lie with your mouth, you lie with your entire

person. You pose as someone whose head is filled with air, and then you

puncture a facade I’ve spent a lifetime building with one single

observation., ‘Unauthorised conception’ indeed. You’ve managed to

trivialise the central tragedy of my entire life.’

‘Can you ever forgive me?’ Her eyes were wide and dishonestly innocent.

‘I give up,’ he said,

throwing his hands in the air in mock surrender. ‘Where was i? Oh yes,

Mirtai’s aPParent change of personality. I think the Rite of Passage among

the Atans is very significant to them, and that’s another reason our

beloved little giantess is reverting to the social equivalent of baby-talk.

Engessa’s obviously going to put her through the rite when we reach her

homeland, so she’s enjoying the last few days of childhood to the hilt.’

‘Can I ride with you, Father?’ Danae asked. ‘if you wish.’ The little

princess rose from her seat in the carriage, handed Rollo to Alcan and Mmrr

to Baroness Melidere and held out her hands to Sparhawk. He lifted her to

her usual seat in front of his saddle. ‘Take me for a ride, Father,’ she

coaxed in her most little-girl tone. ‘We’ll be back in a bit,’ Sparhawk

told his wife and cantered away from the carriage.

‘Stragen can be so tedious at times,’ Danae said tartly. ‘i’m glad

Melidere’s the one who’s going to have to modify him.’

‘What?’ Sparhawk was startled. ‘Where are your eyes, father?’

‘I wasn’t actually looking. Do they really feel that way about each

other?’

‘She does. She’ll let him know how he feels when she’s ready. What

happened in Darsas?’ Sparhawk wrestled with his conscience a bit at that

point., ‘Would you say that you’re a religious personage?’ he asked

carefully. That’s a novel way to put it.’

‘Just answer the question, Danae. Are you or are you not affiliated with a

religion?’

‘Well, of course I am, Sparhawk. I’m the focus of a religion.’

‘Then in a general sort of way, you could be defined as a clergyman – uh person?’

‘W

hat are you getting at, Sparhawk?’

‘Just say yes, Danae. I’m tiptoeing around the edges of violating an oath,

and I need a technical excuse for it.’

‘I give up. Yes, technically you could call me a church personage – it’s a

different church, of course, but the definition still fits.’

‘Thank you. I swore not to reveal this except to another clergyman personage.

You’re a clergyperson, so I can tell you.’

‘That’s sheer sophistry, Sparhawk.’

‘I know, but it gets me off the hook. Baron Kotyk’s brother-in-law, Elron,

is Sabre.’ He gave her a suspicious look. ‘Have you been tampering again?’

‘Me?’

‘You’re starting to stretch the potentials of coincidence a bit, Danae,’

he said. ‘You knew what I just told you all along, didn’t you?’

‘Not the details, no. What you call ‘omniscience’ is a human concept. It

was dreamed up to make people think that they couldn’t get away with

anything. I get hints – little flashes’ of things, that’s all. I knew there

was something significant in Kotyk’s house, and I knew that if you and the

others listened carefully, you’d hear about it.’

‘It’s like intuition then?’

‘That’s a very good word for it, Sparhawk. Ours is a little more developed

than yours, and we pay close attention to it. You humans tend to ignore it

– particularly you men. Something else happened in Darsas, didn’t it?’ He

nodded. ‘That shadow put in another appearance. Emban and I were talking

with Archimandrite Morsel, and we were visited. ‘Whoever’s behind this is

very stupid, then. ‘The Troll-Gods? Isn’t that part of the definition of

them?’

‘We’re not absolutely certain it’s the Troll-Gods, Sparhawk.’

‘Wouldn’t you know? I mean, isn’t there some way you can identify who’s

opposing You?’ She shook her head. ‘i’m afraid not, Sparhawk. We can

conceal ourselves from each other. The stupidity of that appearance in

Darsas certainly suggests the TrollGods, though. We haven’t been able to

make them understand why the sun comes up in the east as yet. They know

it’s going to come up every morrting, but they’re never sure just exactly

where.’

‘You’re exaggerating.’

‘Of course I am.’ She frowned. ‘Let’s not set our feet in stone on the

idea that we’re dealing with the TrollGods just yet, though. There are some

very subtle differences – of course that may be the result of their

encounter with you in the Temple of Azash. You frightened them very much,

you know. I’d be more inclined to suspect an alliance between them and

somebody else. I think the Troll-Gods would be more direct. If there is

somebody else involved, he’s just a bit childish. He hasn’t been out in the

world. He surrounded himself with people who aren’t bright, and he’s

judging all humans by his worshipers. That appearance at Darsas was really

a blunder, you know. He didn’t have to do it, and all he really did was to

confirm what you’d already told that clergyman – you did tell him what’s