Domes of Fire by David Eddings

to ourselves. When you trust someone, you’re putting yourself in the

position of also trusting everybody he trusts, and sometimes that includes

people you don’t even know. I’d rather not do that just yet.’

‘She’s growing very skilled at logic,’ Sparhawk observed. ‘I know,’

Sephrenia sighed. ‘She’s fallen in with evil companions, I’m afraid.’

They left Sarsos later that morning, riding out through the east gate to be

joined by the Church Knights, the Peloi and Engessa’s two legions of Atans.

The day was fair and warm, and the sky intensely blue. The newlyrisen sun

stood above the range of jagged, snow-capped peaks lying to the east. The

peaks reared upward, and their soaring flanks were wrapped in the deep blue

shadows of morning. The country lying ahead looked wild and rugged. Engessa

was striding along beside Sparhawk, and his bronze face had a somewhat

softer expression than it normally wore. He gestured toward the peaks.

‘Atan, Sparhawk-Knight,’ he said, ‘my homeland.’

‘A significant-looking country, Atan Engessa,’ Sparhawk approved. ‘How

long have you been away?’

‘Fifteen years.’

‘That’s a long exile.’

‘It is indeed, Sparhawk-Knight.’ Engessa glanced back at the carriage

rolling along behind them. Zalasta had supplanted Stragen, and Mirtai, her

face serene, sat holding Danae on her lap. ‘We know each other, do we not,

Sparhawk-Knight?’ the Atan said. ‘i’d say so,’ Sparhawk agreed. ‘Our people

have many different customs, but we seem to have stepped around most of

those.’ Engessa smiled slightly. ‘You conducted yourself wel during our

discussions concerning Atana Mirtai and Domi Kring.’

‘Reasonable men can usually find reasons to get along with each other.,’

‘Elenes set great store in reason, do they not?’

‘It’s one of our quirks, I suppose.’

‘I’ll explain something about one of our customs to you, Sparhawk-Knight.

I may not say it too clearly, because I am clumsy in your language. I’ll

rely on you to explain it to the others.’

‘I’ll do my very best, Atan Engessa.’

‘Atana Mirtai will go through the Rite of Passage while she is in Atan.’

‘I was fairly sure she would.’

‘It is the custom of our people for the child to relive the memories of

childhood before the rite, and it is important for her family to be present

while that is done. I have spoken with Atana Mirtai, and her childhood was

not happy’. Many of her memories will be painful, and she will need those

who love her near while she sets them aside. Will you tell Ehlana-queen and

the others what is happening?’

‘I will, Engessa-Atan.’ The Atana will come to you when she is ready. It

is her right to choose those who will support her. Some of her choices may

surprise you, but among my people, it is considered an honour to be

chosen.’ we will look upon it so, Engessa-Atan.’ Sparhawk briefly advised

the others that Mirtai would be calling a meeting at a time of her own

choosing, but he did not go into too much detail, since he himself did not

know exactly what to expect. That evening the Atan giantess moved quietly

through the camp, her manner uncharacteristically diffident. She did not,

as they might have expected, peremptorily command them to attend, but

rather she asked, one might almost say pleaded, and her eyes were very

vulnerable. Most of her choices were the ones Sparhawk would have expected.

They were the people who had been closest to Mirtai during her most recent

enslavement. There were some surprises, however. She invited a couple of

Pandions Sparhawk had not even known she was acquainted with as well as a

couple of Kring’s Peloi and two Atan girls from Engessa’s legions. She also

asked Emban and Oscagne to hear her story. They gathered around a large

fire that evening, and Engessa spoke briefly to them before Mirtai began.

‘It is customary among ‘ our people for one to put childhood away before

entering adulthood,’ he told them gravely. ‘Atana Mirtai will participate

in the Rite of Passage soon, and she has asked us to be with her as she

sets the past aside.’ He paused, and his tone became reflective. ‘This

child is not like other Atan children,’ he told them. ‘For most, the

childhood that is put away is simple and much like that of all others of

our race. Atana Mirtai, however, returns from slavery. She has survived

that and has returned to us. Her childhood has been longer than most and

has contained things not usual – painful things. We will listen with love even

though we do not always understand.’ He turned to Mirtai. ‘It might be

well to begin with the place where you were born, my daughter,’ he

suggested. ‘Yes, Father-Atan,’ she replied politely. Since Engessa had

assumed the role of parent when they had first met, Mirtai’s response was

traditionally respectful. She spoke in a subdued voice that reflected none

of her customary assertiveness. Sparhawk had the distinct impression that

they were suddenly seeing a different Mirtai – a gentle, rather sensitive

girl who had been hiding behind a brusque exterior. ‘I was born in a

village lying to the west of Dirgis,’ she began, ‘near the headwaters of

the River Sama.’ She

spoke in Elenic, since, with the exception of Oscagne, Engessa and the two

Atan girls, none of her loved ones spoke Tamul. ‘We lived deep in the

mountains. My mother and father made much of that.’ She smiled faintly.

‘All Atans believe that they’re special, but we mountain Atans believe that

we’re especially special. We’re obliged to be the very best at everything

we do, since we’re’so obviously superior to everybody else.’ She gave them

all a rather sly glance. Mirtai was very observant, and her offhand remark

tweaked the collective noses of Styric and Elene alike. ‘I spent my

earliest years in the forests and mountains. I walked earlier than most and

ran almost as soon as I could walk. My father was very proud of me, and he

often said that I was born running. As is proper, I tested myself often. By

the time I was five, I could run for half a day, and at six, from dawn

until sunset. ‘The children of our village customarily entered training

very late – usually when we were nearly eight because the training-camp in

our district was very far away, and our parents did not want to be

completely separated from us while we were still babies. Mountain Atans are

very emotional. It’s our one failing.’

‘Were you happy, Atana?’ Engessa asked her gently. Nery happy,

Father-Atan,’ she replied. ‘My parents loved me, and they were very proud

of me. Ours was a small village with only a few children. I was the best,

and my parents’ friends all made much of me.’ She paused, and her eyes

filled with tears. ‘And then the Arjuni slavers came. They were armed with

bows. They were only interested in the children, so they killed all of the

adults. My mother was killed with the first arrow. ‘ Her voice broke at

that point, and she lowered her head for a moment. When she raised her

face, the tears were streaming down her cheeks. Gravely, the Princess Danae

went to her and held out her arms. Without apparently even thinking about

it, Mirtai lifted the little girl up into her lap. Danae touched her

tear-wet cheek and then softly kissed her. ‘I didn’t see my father die,’

Mirtai continued. Her voice was choked, but then it rang out, and her

tearfilled eyes hardened. ‘I killed the first Arjuni who tried to capture

me. They’re ignorant people who can’t seem to realise that children can be

armed too. The Arjuni was holding a sword in his right hand, and he took my

arm with his left. My dagger was very sharp, and it went in smoothly when I

stabbed him under the arm with it. The blood came out of his mouth like a

fountain. He fell back, and I stabbed him again, up under his breast-bone

this time. I could feel his heart quivering on the point of my knife. I

twisted the blade, and he died.’

‘Yes.’ Kring half-shouted. The Domi had been weeping openly, and his voice

was hoarse and savage. ‘I tried to run,’ Mirtai went on, ‘but another

Arjuni kicked my feet out from under me and tried to ‘grab my dagger. I cut

the fingers off his right hand and stabbed him low in the belly. It took

him two days to die, and he screamed the whole time. His screams comforted

me.’

‘Yes.’ It was Kalten this time, and his eyes were also tear-filled. The

Atan girl gave him a brief, sad smile. ‘The Arjuni saw that I was

dangerous, so they knocked me senseless. When I woke up, I was in chains.’

‘This all happened when you were only eight?’ Ehlana asked the giantess in

a half-whisper. ‘Seven, Ehlana,’ Mirtai corrected gently. ‘I wasn’t yet

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