the autumn sunlight touching the turning leaves of the grove of
aspens across the gorge from their cave filled the day with a
vibrant, golden light. Everything seemed etched with a kind of
preternatural clarity. The boulders in the stream-bed below were
starkly white, and the swift-moving river was a dark, sunilluminated
green. The gorge was alive with bird song and the
chatter of scolding squirrels.
The knights continued the labor of fortification, erecting a
substantial, chest-high wall of loosely piled stones around the
edge of the semi-circular shelf that extended out from the mouth
of the cave, and planting a forest of sharpened stakes on the
steep slope that led down to the river.
They pastured their horses in the adjoining meadow by day
and brought them inside the makeshift fort as the sun went
down. They bathed and washed their clothing in the river, and
hunted deer and goats in the forest. They took turns standing
watch at night, but there was no sign of the Delphae.
They stayed there for four nights, crowing more restless with
each passing hour. ‘if this is how the Delphae respond to something
urgent, I’d hate to sit around waiting for them when they
were relaxed,’ Talen said dryly to Itagne on the morning of the
fourth day. ‘They don’t even have anybody out there watching
US.’
‘They’re out there, Master Talen,’ Itagne replied confidently.
‘Why haven’t we seen them, then? ‘they’d be fairly hard to
miss at night.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Kalten disagreed. “I don’t think they glow
all the time. We saw them shining out there in that fog the first
time they came to call, but the second time they crept up to
within twenty yards of us before they lit up. They seem to be
able to control the light, depending on the circumstances.’
‘They’re out there,’ Itagne repeated, ‘and the longer they wait,
the better.’
“I didn’t follow that,’ Talen confessed.
‘They know by now that we’re not going to move from this
spot, so they’re out there right now arguing among themselves
about what they’re going to offer us. Some of them want to offer
more than the others, and the longer we sit right here, the more
we strengthen the position of that faction.’
‘Have you suddenly become clairvoyant, Itagne?’ Sephrenia
asked him.
‘No, Lady Sephrenia, just experienced. This delay is fairlY
standard in any negotiation. I’m on familiar ground now. We’ve
chosen the right strategy.’
‘What else should we be doing?’ Kalten asked.
‘Nothing, Sir Knight. It’s their move.’
She came from the river in broad daylight, climbing easily up
the rocky path that ascended the steep slope. She wore a gray,
hooded robe and simple sandals. Her features were Tamul, but
she did not have the characteristic golden skin-tone of her race.
She was not so much pale as she was colorless. Her eyes were
gray and seemed very wise, and her hair was long and completely
white, though she appeared to be scarcely more than a
girl. Sparhawk and the others watched her as she came up the hill
in the golden sunlight. She crossed the steep meadow where
the horses grazed. Ch’iel, Sephrenia’s gentle white palfrey,
approached the colorless woman curiously, and the stranger
gently touched the mare’s face with one slim hand.
‘That’s probably far enough,’ Vanion called to her. ‘What is it
that you want?’
“I am Xanetia,’ the young woman replied. Her voice was soft,
but there was a kind of echoing timbre to it that immediately
identified her as one of the Delphae. “I am to be thy surety, Lord
Vanion.’
‘You know me?’
‘We know thee, Lord Vanion – and each of thy companions.
Ye are reluctant to come to Delphaeus, fearing that we mean ye
harm. My life will serve as pledge of our good faith.’
‘Don’t listen, Vanion,’ Sephrenia said, her eyes hard.
‘Art thou afeared, Priestess?’ Xanetia asked calmly. ‘Thy Goddess
doth not share thy fear. Now do I perceive that it is thy
hatred which doth obstruct that which must come to pass, and
thus it shall be into thy hands that I shall place my life – to do
with as thou wilt. If thou must needs kill me to quench this
hatred of thine, then so be it.’
Sephrenia’s face went deathly pale. ‘You know I wouldn’t do
that, Xanetia.’
‘Then put the implement of death into the hands of another.
Thus thou mayest command my dying and put no stain of blood
upon thine own hands. Is this not the custom of thy race, Styric?
Thou shalt remain undefiled – even as this thirst of thine is
slaked. All unsmirched mayest thou face thy Goddess and
protest thine innocence, for thou shalt be blameless. My blood
shall be upon the hands of thine Elenes, and Elene souls are
cheap, are they not?’ She reached inside her robe and drew out a
jewel-like stone dagger. ‘Here is the implement of my
death, Sephrenia,’ she said. ‘The blade is obsidian, so thou
shalt not contaminate thy hands – or thy soul – with the loathsome
touch of steel when thou spillest out my life.’ Xanetia’s
voice was soft, but her words cut into Sephrenia like hard,
sharp steel.
“I won’t listen to this.’ the small Styric woman declared hotly.
Xanetia smiled. ‘Ah, but thou wilt, Sephrenia,’ she said, still
very calm. “I know thee well, Styric, and I know that my words
have burned themselves into thy soul. Thou wilt hear them
again and again. In the silence of the night shall they come to
thee, burning deeper each time. Truly shalt thou listen, for my
words are the words of truth, and they shall echo in thy soul
all the days of thy life.’
Sephrenia’s face twisted in anguish, and with a sudden wail
she fled back into the cave.
Itagne’s face was troubled as he came back along the narrow
path from the meadow to the open area in front of the cave.
‘She’s very convincing,’ he told them. “I get no sense of deceit
from her at all.’
‘She probably doesn’t know enough about the real motives of
the leaders of her people to have anything to hide,’ Bevier said
doubtfully. ‘She could very well be nothing more than a pawn.’
‘She is one of the leaders of her people, Sir Bevier,’ Itagne
disagreed. ‘She’s the equivalent of the crown princess of the
Delphae. She’s the one who’ll be Anarae when the Anari dies.’
‘is that a name or a title?’ Ulath asked.
“It’s a title. The Anari – or in Xanetia’s case, the Anarae – is
both the temporal and spiritual leader of the Delphae. The current
Anari is named Codon.’
‘She’s not just making it up?’ Talen asked. ‘She could be just
pretending to be their crown princess, you know. That way,
we’d think she was important, when she’s actually nothing more
than a shepherdess or somebody’s housemaid.’
“I don’t think so,’ Itagne said. “It may sound immodest, but I
don’t really believe anyone can lie to me for very long and get
away with it. She says that she’s the one who’ll be Anarae, and I
believe her. The move’s consistent with standard diplomatic practice.
Hostages have to be important. It’s another indication of just
how desperate the Delphae are in this business. I think Xanetia’s
telling the truth, and if she is, she’s the most precious thing they
possess.’ He made a wry face. “It definitely goes against everything
I’ve been trained to believe about the Shining Ones since
childhood, but I think we almost have to trust them this time.”
Sparhawk and Vanion looked at each other. ‘What do you
think?’ Vanion asked.
“I don’t see that we’ve got much choice, do you?’
‘Not really. Ulath was right. We can’t sit here all winter, and
no matter which way we turn, we keep going toward Delphaeus.
The fact that Xanetia’s here is some assurance of good faith.’
‘is it enough, though?’
“It’s probably going to have to be, Sparhawk. I don’t think
we’re going to get anything better.’
‘Kalten!’ Sephrenia exclaimed. ‘No!’
‘Somebody has to do it,’ the blond knight replied stubbornly.
‘Good faith has to go both ways.’ He looked Xanetia full in the
face. ‘is there something you’d like to tell me before I help you
up onto that horse?’ he asked her. ‘Some warning, maybe?’
‘Thou art brave, Sir Kalten,’ she replied.
“It’s what they pay me for.’ he shrugged. ‘Will I dissolve if I
touch you?’
‘No.’
‘All right. You’ve never ridden a horse before, have you?’
‘We do not keep horses. We seldom leave our valley, so we
have little need of them.’
‘They’re fairly nice animals. Be a little careful of the one Sparhawk
rides, though. He bites. Now, this horse is a pack animal.
He’s fairly old and sensible, so he won’t waste energy Jumping
around and being silly. Don’t worry too much about the reins.
He’s used to following along after the others, so you don’t have