Eddings, David – Tamuli – 02 – The Shining Ones

of the previous day’s conversation with Sephrenia. ‘The lady’s

appearance won’t go unnoticed – not only in Matherion itself,

but along the roads we’ll have to follow as we ride east as well.

Is there some way we could disguise her enough so that whole

villages won’t go into absolute panic the moment she rides

by?’ He looked apologetically at the Delphaeic woman. “I

wouldn’t offend you for the world, Anarae, but you are very

Striking.’

“I thank thee for the compliment, gentle sir.’

‘Do you want to take over, Sparhawk?’ Vanion said. “I just

seem to be digging myself in deeper.’

‘We’re soldiers, Xanetia,’ Sparhawk said bluntly, ‘and our

answer to hostility is fairly direct. We can butcher our way from

here to the imperial palace in Matherion if we have to, but I get

the feeling that you might find that distressing. Would a disguise

of some kind offend you?’ Then a thought came to him. ‘Can

we disguise you? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you glow.

Some of your people have come fairly close to us before the light

started to show. Can your internal fire be dampened?’

‘We can control the light, Anakha,’ Codon assured him, ‘and

Xanetia, the most gifted of us all, can control it even better than

most – ‘though it doth cause her pain to do so. For us, it is an

unnatural thing.’

‘We’ll have to work on that, then.’

‘The pain is of no moment, Anakha,’ Xanetia assured him.

‘Not to you, perhaps, but it is to me. Let’s start with your

coloration, though. Your features are Tamul, but your skin and

hair are the wrong color. What do you think, Itagne? Could she

pass for Tamul if we dyed her skin and hair?’

‘That is not needful, Anakha,’ Xanetia told him. Her brow furrowed

briefly in concentration, and gradually, almost like a slow

blush, a faint golden tint began to mount in her cheeks, and her

hair slipped from its colorless white into pale blonde. ‘Color is a

quality of light,’ she explained quite calmly, even as the embronzing

of her skin and the darkening of her hair continued, ‘and since

I can control the light from within me, so can I also control’ my

color – indeed, by thus altering the light rather than suppressing

it entirely, I can lessen the pain. A most happy solution for me and

for thee as well, I wot, since thou seemest sensitive to the pain

of others. This is a simple matter.’ Her skin by now was almost

the same pale gold as Itagne’s, and her hair was a deep, rich auburn.

‘The change of shape is far more difficult,’ she conceded, ‘and

the change of gender more difficult still. ‘

‘The what?’ Itagne choked.

“I do not do that often – nor willingly,’ she replied. ‘Edaemus

did not intend for me to be a man, and I find it most uncomfortable.

A man’s body is so cluttered and untidy.’ She held out her

arm and examined it closely. ‘The color seemeth me correct,’

she observed. Then she took a lock of her now-black hair and

looked at it. ‘And this as well,’ she added. ‘What thinkest thou,

Itagne? Would I pass unnoticed in Matherion now?’

‘Hardly, divine Xanetia,’ he smiled. ‘Thy passage through the

streets of fire-domed Matherion would stop the hearts of all who

beheld thee, for thou art fair, and thy beauty doth bedazzle mine

eye beyond all measure.’

‘Well said,’ Sparhawk murmured.

‘Thine honeyed words fall sweetly upon mine ears, Itagne,’

Xanetia smiled. ‘Thou art, I do believe, a master of flattery.’

‘You should probably know that Itagne is a diplomat, Anarae,’

Vanion advised her, ‘and his words aren’t always to be trusted.

This time he’s telling you the truth, though. You’re an extraordinarily

beautiful woman.’

She looked at him gravely. ‘Thine heart is sore within thee,

is it not, Lord Vanion?’ she observed.

He sighed. “It’s my ‘personal problem, Anarae,’ he replied.

‘Not entirely so, my Lord. Now are we all of the same fellowship,

and the troubles of one are the troubles of all. But that

which troubleth thee is of far greater note and causeth us all

much greater concern than that which might grow from our

comradely feelings for thee. This breach between thy beloved

and thee doth imperil our cause, and until it be healed, our

common purpose doth stand in peril.’

They rode eastward, following a scarcely perceptible track which

seemed more like a game trail than a route normally followed

by humans. Sephrenia, accompanied by BevierE and young Berit,

rode some distance to the rear, her face set and her eyes as hard

as flint.

Sparhawk and Vanion rode in the lead, following occasional

directions from Xanetia, who rode directly behind them under

Kalten’s watchful eye. ‘Just give her some time, Vanion,’

Sparhawk was saying. ‘Women deliver ultimatums and

declarations of war fairly often. Things like that are usually

intended to get our attention. Any time I start neglecting Ehlana’,

she says something she doesn’t really mean to bring me up

short.’

‘i’m afraid this goes a little further than that, Sparhawk,’

Vanion replied. ‘Sephrenia’s a Styric, but she’s never been so

totally irrational before. If we could find out what’s behind this

insane hatred of hers, we might be able to do something about

it, but we’ve never been able to get any coherent reasons out of

her. Apparently, she hates the Delphae’simply because she hates

the Delphae.’

‘Aphrael will straighten it out,’ Sparhawk said confidently.

‘As soon as we get back to Matherion, I’ll have a talk with Danae

and…’ Sparhawk broke off as a sudden thought chilled his

blood. “I have to talk with Xanetia,’ he said, abruptly wheeling

Faran around.

‘Trouble?’ Kalten asked as Sparhawk joined them.

‘Nothing immediate,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘Why don’t you go

on ahead and ride with Vanion for a while. I need to talk with

Xanetia. ‘

Kalten gave him a questioning look but rode on forward without

any further questions.

‘Thou art troubled, Anakha,’ Xanetia observed.

‘A little, yes. You know what I’m thinking, don’t you?’

She nodded.

‘Then you know who my daughter is?’

‘Yes.’

“It’s a sort of secret, Anarae. Aphrael didn’t consult with my

wife when she chose her present incarnation. It’s very important

that Ehlana doesn’t find out. I think her sanity depends on it.’

‘Thy secret is safe, Anakha, I do pledge thee my silence on

this issue.’

‘What really happened, Xanetia? – between the Styrics and

the Delphae, I mean. I don’t want your version or Sephrenia’S.

I want the truth.’

‘Thou art not meant to know the truth, Anakha. A part of thy

task is to resolve this issue without recourse to the truth.’

‘i’m an Elene, Xanetia,’ he said in a pained voice. “I have to

have facts in order to make decisions.’

‘Then it is thine intent to judge? – to decide if the guilt doth

condemn the Styrics or the Delphae?’

‘No. My intent is to get to the bottom of Sephrenia’s behavior

so that I can change her mind.’

‘is she so important to thee?’

Why do you ask questions when you already know the answers?’

‘My questions are intended to help thee formulate thy thought,

Anakha.’

‘i’m a Pandion Knight, Xanetia. Sephrenia’s been the mother

of our order for three centuries. Any one of us would give up

his life for her without any hesitation at all. We love her, but

we don’t share all of her prejudices.’ He leaned back in his

saddle. ‘I’ll only wait for so long, Xanetia. If I don’t get the real

truth out of you – or out of Sephrenia – I’ll just ask Bhelliom.’

Thou wouldst not!’ Her now-dark eyes were filled with a sudden

chagrin.

‘i’m a soldier, Xanetia, so I don’t have the patience for

subtlety. You’ll excuse me? I have to go talk with Sephrenia for

a moment.’

‘Dirgis,’ Xanetia told them as they crested a hill and saw a typical

Atan town lying in the valley below.

‘Well, finally,’ Vanion said, taking out his map. ‘Now we know

where we are.’ He looked over his map for a moment and then

squinted up at the evening sky. ‘is it too late in the day for us

to take one of those long steps, Sparhawk?’

‘No, my Lord,’ Sparhawk replied. ‘There’s plenty of light.’

‘Are we still concerned about that?’ Ulath asked. ‘Haven’t you

and Bhelliom hammered that out yet?’

‘We haven’t been having any private chats,’ Sparhawk

replied. ‘There are still people out there who can locate Bhelliom

when it’s out in the open, so I’ve been keeping it inside its little

house – just to be on the safe side.’

“It’s well over three hundred leagues, Sparhawk,’ Vanion

pointed out. “It’s going to be later there.’

‘i’m never going to get used to that,’ Kalten said sourly.

“It’s really very simple, Kalten,’ Ulath told him. ‘You see,

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