‘Sit down, Rael,’ said Sofarita, softly. ‘Try to put aside your rage and listen to your intellect.’
‘I will not sit. I will not remain in this house. My guards are outside and I will have them take this murderess to her death.’
‘As you took her daughter and countless thousand others,’ said Sofarita, her voice even. ‘As you took her grandchild and drew its tiny life into your crystals. How can you talk of murder when you live only by sucking the life from others? By all that is holy, Rael, you should be long dead. You breathe only because you have stolen life from others.’
‘I do not need to listen to this,’ stormed Rael. ‘And I do not need some Vagar whore to tell me what is right. If her daughter was sentenced it was according to the law.’
‘Now there is an interesting concept,’ said Sofarita. ‘If a few Avatars decide that planting a flower in the earth is wrong, then that becomes the law. And Vagars will die for it. You speak of the law as if it flows from the Source. What right have you to make the laws?’
‘The right of conquest!’ he replied, instantly.
‘Exactly. And now Mejana and her people are ready to conquer you. This will give her the right to make the laws. Perhaps she will decide that having blue hair is a capital crime. Then all Avatars will be law-breakers. Enough of this, Rael, it is beneath you. Rage is no basis on which to build co-operation.’
Rael took a deep breath. ‘What is it you are proposing?’ he asked.
‘A chance for survival. The tribes will not gather under Avatar leadership. They will fight singly, and they will be overwhelmed. You must give way. The Avatars will be the spear point, but others will have their hands upon the haft.’
‘These are our cities, our lands,’ he said, his voice calmer. ‘What is it that you are suggesting?’
‘They are no longer your cities. You will surrender power now to Mejana and myself. You will remain the Questor General until the war is concluded.’
‘Are you listening to this?’ sneered Rael, turning to Niclin and Ro. ‘Can you believe what you are hearing?’ He swung back towards Sofarita. ‘We are gods, woman. We do not give way to lesser beings.’
‘You are not gods, Rael. You are men with power. But let us assume for a moment you are right and that your powers do make you a god. In that case I am a goddess, and infinitely more powerful than you.’
‘A dying goddess,’ snapped Rael. ‘You think I do not understand what it means to be crystal-joined? It has happened before. Twice. You have a few years of power, then you will become nothing more than a block of crystal.’
‘This time you are absolutely correct,’ she said without hint of anger. ‘And I hope that saying it gave you pleasure.’
The anger drained from Rael. ‘Yes, it did,’ he admitted. ‘And it shames me.’
‘The truth is sometimes painful, Rael,’ she said. ‘But know this: I could choose otherwise for myself, like Almeia, the goddess of the Almecs. She is fed with blood daily. She survives, and her power is very great indeed. I do not, however, wish to live upon the blood of others. But that is not the real issue here today. What I am suggesting for the Avatar will happen regardless of any path you choose now. You are the last remnants of a dead race. Your domination rests only on the power chests charged by Questor Ro. You are pitifully few in number and the people you rule outnumber you by thousands to one. Even without the Almecs, power would have changed hands within a few years. It is inevitable. What I am saying is, that if it can be today, then you have a chance to defeat the Almecs.’ She spread her hands. ‘Or you can choose to drag the tribes and the Vagars down to death with you and leave the survivors in the hands of a terrible enemy.’
Rael glanced at Questor Niclin. ‘Do you have anything to add, cousin?’ he asked.