not I who enslaved thee, Blue Rose. It was thine own inattention
that brought thee into such perilous proximity to the red of iron
which congealed thee into thy present state, and it was Ghwerig
who lifted thee from the earth and contorted thee into this similitude
of a flower with his cruel diamond implements.’
A stifled groan came from Kalten’s lips, a groan of pain
endured and pain remembered.
“I am Anakha, Blue Rose,’ Sparhawk continued. “I am thy
creature. It is thou who hast caused me to be, that I might be
the instrument of thy liberation, and I will not betray thy trust
in me. I am in some part made of thy thought, and I am therefore
thy servant. It is thou who hast enslaved me. Didst thou not set
my destiny apart, making me a stranger to the Gods of this
world and to all other men? But, though I am thine enslaved
servant, I am, nonetheless, still of this world, and I will not have
it destroyed nor its people crushed by the vile oppression of
mine enemies. I did free thee from the enslavement of Ghwerig,
did I not? is this not in some small measure proof of my fidelity
to the task which thou hast lain upon me? And, bound together
in common purpose, did we not destroy Azash, who would
have chained us both in a slavery harsher than that which now
chains us together? For mistake me not, Blue Rose, even as thou
art my slave, so am I thine, and once again the chain which binds
us together is common purpose, and neither shall be free until
that purpose be accomplished. Then shalt thou, and then shall
I, be free to go our separate ways – I to remain, and thou to
go, an it please thee, to continue thine interrupted and endless
journey to the farthest star.’
‘Thou hast learned well, Anakha,’ Bhelliom said grudgingly,
‘but thine understanding of thy situation did never obtrude itself
upon thy conscious thought where I could perceive it. I had
despaired, thinking that I had wrought amiss.’
Sephrenia was staring at them, first at Sparhawk and then at
the seemingly comatose Kalten, and her pale, flawless face was
filled with something very like chagrin. Xanetia stared also, and
her expression was no less chagrined. Sparhawk took a fleeting
satisfaction in that. The two were very much alike in their perhaps
unconscious assumption of condescending superiority.
Sparhawk’s sudden, unexpected awareness of things long conceiled
in his understanding had shaken that irritating smugness
of theirs. For the first time in his life he consciously knew that
he was Anakha, and more importantly, he knew the meaning
of Anakha in ways neither Sephrenia nor Xanetia could ever
begin to comprehend. He had stepped around them to reach
Bhelliom, and in joining his thought with Bhelliom’s, he had to
some degree shared Bhelliom’s awareness, and that was something
neither of them could ever do.
‘Thou hast not wrought amiss, Blue Rose,’ he told the jewel.
‘Thine error lay in casting thy thought in this particular speech.
Mine understanding was also cast so, and it did not reveal itself
to me until I responded to thy words in kind. Now, let us to work
Withal. Mine enemies are also thine, forasmuch as they would
bind thee even as they would bind me. Neither of us shall be secure
in our freedom until they are no more. Are we agreed upon that?
‘Thy reasoning is sound, Anakha.’
‘Our purpose then is the same?’
‘So it would seem.’
‘We’re making some headway here,’ Sparhawk murmured.
Kalten’s expression became coldly disapproving.
‘Sorry,’ Sparhawk apologized, ‘force of habit, I suppose.
Reason doth urge that since our enemies and our purpose are
common, and that since our thoughts are linked by this chain
of thy forging, we must join our efforts in this cause. In victory
shall we be freed. Our enemies and our common purpose shall
be no more, and the chain which links us will fall away. I do
pledge it to thee that upon the completion of this task I will free
thee to continue thy work. My life is surely within thy fist, and
thou mayest destroy me if I play thee false. ‘
“I find no falsity in thy thought, Anakha, and I will strengthen
thine arm and harden thine heart, lest others, beloved by thee,
seek to turn thee aside from thy design and thy pledge. We are
agreed.’
‘Done, then.” Sparhawk was exultant.
‘And done.’ Bhelliom’s speech, emerging from Kalten’s lips
had been dry and unemotional, but this time the voice was also
exultant.
‘And now to this decision which thou and I must make
together.’
‘Sparhawk…’ Sephrenia’s tone was uncertain.
‘i’m sorry, little mother,’ he said, ‘i’m not talking with you at
the moment. Please don’t interrupt.’ Sparhawk was not entirely
sure whether he should address his question to the Sapphire
Rose or to Kalten, who seemed to have been completely taken
over by the spirit within the jewel. He settled for directing his
question somewhere between them. ‘The Delphae have offered
their assistance in exchange for a certain service,’ he said. ‘They
would have us seal their valley that none may enter and none
may leave, and in recompense for that small favor they promise
to aid us. Is their offer made in good faith?’ Sparhawk heard
Xanetia’s sharp intake of breath.
“It is,’ Bhelliom replied. ‘There is no falsity in their offer.’
“I didn’t think so myself, but I wanted to be sure.’
‘Anakha.’ The voice was firm. ‘When thou speakest so, thy
mind is concealed from me. Our alliance is new and unfamiliar.
It is not wise of thee to raise doubts in me by compressing thy
words together so.’
Sparhawk suddenly laughed. ‘Forgive my lapse, Blue Rose,’
he said. ‘We can trust the Delphae, then?”
‘For the moment, yes. Their intent is presently without guile.
It is uncertain what it will be tomorrow. Thy kind is inconstant,
Anakha.’ Kalten’s voice hesitated briefly. “I say that not as criticism,
merely as observation. For the presence mayest thou put thy
trust in their sincerity – and they in thine. What may come
subsequently lieth in the hands of chance.’
‘Then there is such a thing as chance?’ Sparhawk was a bit
surprised at that. ‘We are told that all things are pre-determined
by the Gods.’
‘Whosoever told thee so was in error.’
Bevier gasped.
‘My journey and my task were interrupted by chance,’
Bhelliom continued. ‘if my course may be turned aside,
might not thine as well? Truly I tell thee, Anakha, we must
join with the Delphae in this enterprise, for if we do not,
we shall surely fail. Whether one or both play the other false
will depend on circumstance. At this time, the hearts of the
Delphae are pure; that may change. At this time, thine heart is
also pure, that may also change. but will we, nil we, we must
join with them, lest we fail and languish forever in vilest
bondage.’
‘You heard him, Bevier,’ Sephrenia was saying to the olive-skinned
Arcian later when Sparhawk quietly entered the room
where the two were deep in conversation, ‘they worship the
lake – the source of the contamination that makes them outcast.’
“He did mention a God, Lady Sephrenia,’ Bevier protested
mildly. “I think he called their God Edaemus – or something like
that. ‘
‘But Edaemus has abandoned them – cursed them and then
turned his back on them.’
‘Anari said that Edaemus had gone before them to prepare a
place for them.’ Bevier’s objection seemed even weaker. ‘he said
that they were changing – turning into pure light.’
‘Lies,’ she snapped. ‘The light that marks them is not the mark
of a blessing, Bevier, it’s the mark of their curse. Codon was
cleverly trying to twist it around to make it seem that the Delphae
are turning into something holy, when the reverse is actually true.’
‘They do perform magic, Sephrenia, and a kind of magic I’ve
never seen before. I wouldn’t have believed that anyone could
return to childhood if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.’
‘Exactly my point, Bevier. They’re using witchcraft, not magic.
You’ve never seen me imitate a God, have you?’
Sparhawk stepped unobserved back out into the hallway and
went on down to the doorless cell Vanion occupied. ‘We’ve got
a problem,’ he told the Preceptor of the Pandions.
‘Another one?’
‘Sephrenia’s trying to subvert Bevier. She’s trying to convince
him that the Delphae practice witchcraft. You know Bevier. his
eyes start to bulge out any time anyone so much as mentions
the word.’
‘Why won’t she just leave it alone?’ Vanion exclaimed, throwing
his’ hands in the air. ‘Wasn’t Bhelliom’s word good enough
for her?’
‘She doesn’t want to believe, Vanion,’Sparhawk sighed. ‘We’ve
run into exactly the same thing when we’ve tried to convince rural
Elenes that Styrics aren’t born with horns and tails.’