Kalten and Ulath returned and quietly took their seats again.
‘Zalasta was born some few centuries ago in the Styric village
of Ylara, which lay in the forest near Genae in northern Astel,’
Xanetia began. ‘in his seventh year was there born also in that
self-same village she whom we now know as Sephrenia, one of
the Thousand of Styricum, tutor to the Pandion Knights in the
secrets of Styricum, Councillor of Elenia and beloved of Preceptor
Vanion.’
‘That’s no longer true,’ Sephrenia said shortly.
‘I spoke of Lord Vanion’s feelings for thee, Sephrenia, not
of thine for him, Zalasta’s family was on friendly terms with
Sephrenia’s, and they did conclude between them that when
Sephrenia and Zalasta should reach a suitable age, they would
be wed. ‘
‘i’d forgotten about that,’ Sephrenia said suddenly. ‘I’ve nevr
really thought of him that way.’
“it hath been the central fact of his life, however, I do assure
thee. When thou wert in thy ninth year didst thy mother conceive,
and the child she bore was in truth Aphrael, Child Goddess
of Styricum, and in the instant of her birth did Zalasta’s
hopes and dreams turn to dust and ashes, for thy life was forever
given over entirely to thine infant sister. Zalasta’s wrath knew
no bounds, and he did hide himself in the forest, lest his countenance
betray his innermost thoughts. Much he traveled, seeking
out the most powerful magicians of Styricum, even, at peril
of his soul, those outcast and accursed. His search had but one
aim, to discover some means whereby a man might overthrow
and destroy a God, for his despair drove him to an unreasoning
hatred of the Child Goddess, and, more than anything, he
sought her death.’
Princess Danae gasped aloud.
‘You’re supposed to be listening,’ her mother said.
‘I was startled, mother.’
‘You must never show that. Always keep your emotions under
control.’
‘Yes, mother.’
“it was in the sixth year of the life of the Child Goddess – in
that particular incarnation – that Zalasta, in a frenzy of frustration,
since all with whom he had spoken had told him that his
goal was beyond human capability, turned to more direct means.
hoping perhaps that the Child Goddess might be caught
unawares or that by reason of her tender years might she not
yet have come into her full powers, conceived he a reckless plan,
an attempt to o’erwhelm her with sheer numbers. Though the
Goddess herself is immortal, thought he that mayhap might her
incarnation be slain, forcing her to seek another vessel for her
awareness. ‘
‘Would that work?’ Kalten asked Sparhawk.
‘How should I know?’ Sparhawk threw a guarded glance at
his daughter.
Danae very casually shook her head.
‘in furtherance of his hasty and ill-conceived scheme did Zalasta
assume the guise of an Elene clergyman and did visit the
rude villages of the serfs of that region and did denounce the
Styrics of his own village, describing them as idolaters and
demon-worshipers, whose foul rites demanded the blood of
ehlene virgins. So hotly did he inflame them with his false reports
that on a certain day did the ignorant serfs gather, and swept
they down upon that innocent Styric village, slauhhtering all
and putting their houses to the torch.’
‘But that was Sephrenia’s home, too!’ ~Ehlana exclaimed. ‘how
could he be sure that she wouldn’t be killed as well?’
‘He was beyond caring, Queen of Elenia. Indeed, it was his
thought that better far should she die than that Aphrael should
have her. Better a grief that would pass than endless unsatisfied
longing. But as it came to pass, the Child Goddess had besought
her sister that very morning that they two should go into the
forest to gather wild flowers, and thus it was that they were not
there when the Elene serfs fell upon the village.’
‘Zalasta told me the story once,’ Sparhawk interrupted. ‘He
said that he was with Sephrenia and Aphrael in the forest.’
‘Nay, Anakha. He was at the village, directing the search for
the two. ‘
‘Why would he lie about something like that?’
‘Mayhap he doth lie even to himself. His acts that day were
monstrous, and it is in our nature to obscure such behavior from
ourselves.”
‘maybe that’s it,’ he conceded.
‘Ye may well perceive the depths of Zalasta’s hatred and
despair when thou knowest that his own kindred perished
there,’ Xanetia continued. ‘Yea, his father and his mother and
sisters three fell beneath the cudgels and scythes of the ravening
beasts he had unleashed even as he looked on.’
‘I don’t believe you!’ Sephrenia burst out.
‘Bhelliom can confirm my truth, Sephrenia,’ Xanetia replied
calmly, ‘and if I have broken faith by lying, Sir Kalten stands
ready to spill out my life. Put me to the test, sister.’
‘he told us that the serfs had been inflamed against our village
by your people – by the Delphae.’
‘He lied unto thee, Sephrenia. Great was his chagrin when he
discovered that Aphrael – and thou – didst still live. Seizing
upon the first thought which came to him, did he shift his own
guilt to my kindred, knowing that thou wouldst surely believe
the worst ‘of those whom thou wert already predisposed to hate.
he hath deceived thee since childhood, Sephrenia of Ylara, and
would deceive thee still, had not Anakha forced him to reveal
his true self.’
‘That’s why you hate the Delphae, isn’t it, Sephrenia?’ Ehlana
asked shrewdly. ‘You thought that they were the ones responsiblL~
for the murder of your parents.”
‘And Zalasta, ever striving to conceal his own guilt, lost no
opportunity to remind her of that lie,’ Xanetia said. ‘in truth
hath he poisoned her thoughts against the Delphae for centuries,
filling her heart with hatred, lest she question him concerning his own
involvement.’
Sephrenia’s face twisted, and she bowed her head, buried her
face in her hands, and began to weep.
Xanetia sighed. ‘The truth hath made her grief all new. She
weeps for her parents, dead these many centuries.’ She looked
at Alcan. ‘Take her somewhat apart, gentle child, and comfort
her. She hath much need of the ministrations of women presently.
The storm of her weeping will soon pass, and then woe
unto Zalasta should he ever fall into her hands.’
‘Or mine,’ Vanion added bleakly.
‘Boiling oil is good, my Lord,’ Kalten suggested. ‘Cook him
while he’s still alive.’
‘Hooks are good, too,’ Ulath added. ‘Long ones with nice
sharp barbs on them.’
‘Must you?’ Sarabian said with a shudder.
‘Zalasta hurt Sephrenia, your Majesty,’ Kalten told him.
‘There are twenty-five thousand Pandion Knights – and quite a
few knights from the other orders as well – who are going to
take that very personally. Zalasta can pull mountain ranges over
his head to try to hide, but we’ll still find him. The Church
Knights aren’t really very civilized, and when somebody hurts
those we love, it brings out the worst in us.’
‘Well said,’ Sparhawk murmured.
‘We’re getting afield here, gentlemen,’ Ehlana reminded
them. ‘We’ll decide Zalasta’s punishment after we catch him.
When did he become involved in this current business, Xanetia?
Is he really allied with Cyrgon?’
‘The alliance was of Zalasta’s devising, Queen of Elenia. His
failure in the forest of Astel and his own guilt arising therefrom
did plunge him into deepest despair and blackest melancholy.
He roamed the world, losing himself at times in vilest debauchery
and at times dwelling alone and hermit-like in the wildernesses
of this world for decades on end. he sought out every
Styric magician of reputation – good or ill – and gleaned from’
them all of the secrets. In truth, of all the Styrics who have ever
lived in the forty eons of the history of their race, Zalasta is
pre-eminent. But knowledge alone consoled him not. Aphrael
lived still, and Sephrenia was ever bound to her.
‘But the knowledge of Zalasta, which is beyond measure, did
suggest to him a means by which he might break those bonds.
At the dawn of time in far Thalesia had the Troll-dwarf Ghwerig
wrought Bhelliom, and Zalasta knew that with Bhelliom’s aid
might he gain his heart’s desire.
‘Then came the birth of Anakha, signaling that Bhelliom itself
would soon emerge from the place where it had lain hidden,
and by signs and oracles and diverse other means did outcast
Styrics perceive his birth, and counseled they Zalasta,
instructing him to journey straightway to Eosia to observe
Anakha throughout his childhood and youth that he might
know him better, for it was the hope of Zalasta that in the day
that Anakha did bring the flower-gem to light, might he wrest
it from him and thereby gain the means to prevail over the Child
Goddess. But on the day when the ring did come into Anakha’s
possession by means of inheritance, did Zalasta perceive his
error. Well had the Troll-Gods wrought when they guided