‘There is other news, cousin,’ said Caprishan.
‘Good news, I hope.’
Caprishan shrugged. ‘The king of the Mud People has fled the city. He requested a horse for a ride through the parks. Then he fled. Is that good or bad news?’
‘Neither. There is no time to rally the tribes. We stand alone.’
Caprishan gazed over the battlements at the advancing lines of men. In the dying light they looked inhuman, moving in harmony. From this distance they could have been a line of ants. Caprishan shivered. He did not like to think of insects. It made him itch. ‘Well-trained soldiers,’ he said. ‘Look at the way they move. Perfect discipline.’
Behind the defenders the sun dipped low into a blood-red sea.
And Serpent Seven slid from view over the horizon.
Methras had insisted that Talaban stay in his old quarters and the Avatar had accepted gratefully. Now he stood on the small deck of the captain’s cabin and gazed back at the towers of Egaru. They were bathed in the light of the dying sun. He felt a shiver run through him as the city faded into the distance, a brooding sense of farewell that he could not shake. Talaban had few friends among his Avatar comrades, but this did not mean that he disliked them. There were some people he had known for almost 200 years, men and women he respected, or admired. Above all else they were family. Almost all the Avatars who had survived the fall of the world were related.
Now he was leaving them to their fate.
It did not matter that his mission was to save them. At this moment it felt like desertion.
‘Yet it is not,’ said Sofarita. Talaban turned slowly. She was standing by the desk, a goblet of water in her slender hand, a blue robe covering her exquisite form. Her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and her neck was sleek and joyous to behold.
‘Eavesdropping is said to be rude,’ he told her.
‘I cannot always control the power,’ she told him.
‘Especially when the emotions of people close to me are raised.’
‘When you say close … ?’ He looked at her and smiled.
‘I mean in close proximity,’ she replied, a blush coming to her cheeks.
‘Since you have read my mind you know my feelings for you. Do they cause you concern?’
Now it was her turn to smile. ‘No. It is sometimes pleasant to be … held in such high regard. What is it you desire about me, Talaban? My body? My talent? Both?’
He took her hand and kissed it. ‘I wish I could tell you,’ he said. ‘I wish I could find the words. But the first moment I saw you it was as if lightning had flashed in my mind. Since then you are always in my thoughts.’
Gently she withdrew her hand. ‘We cannot be lovers,’ she told him. He thought he sensed regret in her voice. ‘My powers are growing daily. If I made love to you I think you would die. It is not only the crystals which I draw upon. I am beginning to …’ she faltered. ‘Let us not speak of that.’ She walked out onto the small deck.
Egaru was almost out of sight now. Moving behind her he placed his hands on her shoulders. She shivered at the touch. ‘Do not fall in love with me, Talaban,’ she warned him.
He laughed then. ‘As if I had a choice.’
‘We all have choices,’ she said, turning her back to the rail. He started to step in closer. She raised a hand and he felt a pressure on his chest pushing him back, even though she was some feet from him. ‘Think about what you are doing,’ she advised him. ‘You see a woman, but I am no longer fully flesh and blood. I am turning to crystal. Slowly, it is true. But crystal nonetheless. Did you learn nothing from loving Chryssa?’
The question shocked him. ‘This is not about Chryssa.’
‘How strange then that you should fall in love with two crystal-cursed women.’
‘That is unfair. I did not know you were so afflicted when first I saw you. And when Chryssa and I were betrothed she was also fully flesh and blood. Do not play mind games with me, Sofarita. I believe I would have loved you had I ridden into your village and seen you working in the fields. If you doubt me, read my mind. Look into my heart. Do you see anything base there?’
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