Ghwerig in the carving of the Sapphire Rose. Man is capricious
and inconstant, and covetousness doth ever lurk in his heart,
and Trolls are but reflections of the worst in men. Thus did the
Troll-Gods make the rings the key to Bhelliom, lest any or all
have power to command it. Thus did Aphrael disarm Ghwerig
by stealing the rings, and thus did she scatter the power of the
jewel that no mortal might command it. Thinking that their own
power was absolute, the Troll-Gods had no interest in the
flower-gem, and distrustful each of the others, they laid enchantments
upon the stone to ensure that no one of them might take
up Bhelliom unless all did. Only in concert might they command
it, and they contrived it so that they, as Gods acting’ in concert,
could command Bhelliom without the rings.’ She paused,
reflecting, Sparhawk thought, on the peculiarities of the
Troll-Gods.
‘Now truly,’ she went on, ‘the Troll-Gods are ellementals, each
so limited that his mind may in no wise be considered whole
and complete. Only when united, which doth rarely happen,
can they, by combinatiun, achieve that wholeness we see
in the meerest human child. For the other Gods, however, it is
not so. The mind of Azash was whole and compl(ete, despite
his maiming, and in his wholeness had he the power to command
Bhelliom without the rings. This then was the peril
which did confront thee, Anakha, when thou didst journey
to Zemoch to meet with him. Had Azash wrested Bhelliom from
thee, he could have compelled it to join its will and its power
with his.’
‘That might have been a bit inconvenient,’ Kalten noted.
‘I don’t quite understand,’ Talen said. ‘The last few times he’
used it, Sparhawk’s been able to get Bhelliom to do what he
wants it to do without using the rings. Does that mean that
Sparhawk’s a God?’
‘Nay, young sir,’ Xanetia smiled. ‘Anakha is of Bhelliom’s
devising and is therefore in some measure a part of Bhelliom even
as are the rings. For him, the rings are not needful. Zalasta
did perceive this. When Anakha slew Ghwerig and took up the
Bhelliom, did Zalasta intensify his surveillance, ever using the
rings as beacons to guide him. Thus did he observe Anakha’s
progress, and thus did he watch Anakha’s mate as well.’
‘All right, Sparhawk,’ Ehlana said in a dangerous tone. ‘How
did you get my ring? And what’s this?’ She extended her hand
to show him the ruby adorning her finger. ‘is it some cheap
piece of glass?’
he sighed. ‘Aphrael stole your ring for me,’ he replied. ‘She’s
the one who provided the substitute. I doubt that she’d have
used glass.’
She pulled the ring off her finger and hurled it across the
room. ‘Give it back! Give me back my ring, you thief.’
‘I didn’t steal it, Ehlana,’ he protested. ‘Aphrael did.’
‘You took it when she gave it to you, didn’t you? That makes
you an accessory. Give me back my ring.’
‘Yes, dear,’ he replied meekly. ‘I meant to do that, but it
slipped my mind.’ He took out the box. ‘Open,’ he told it. He
did not touch his ring to the lid. he wanted to find out if the
box would open at his command alone.
It did. He took out his wife’s ring and held it out to her.
‘Put it back where it belongs,’ she commanded.
‘All right. here, hold this.’ He gave her the box, took her
hand, and slipped the ring onto her finger. Then he reached for
the box again.
‘Not just yet,’ she said, holding it out of his reach. She looked
at the Sapphire Rose. ‘Does it know who I am?’
‘I think so. Why don’t you ask it? Call it “Blue Rose”. That’s
what Ghwerig called it, so it’s familiar with the name.’
‘Blue Rose,’ she said, ‘do you know me?’
There was a momentary silence as Bhelliom pulsed, its azure
glow dimming and then brightening.
‘Anakha,’ Talen said in a slightly wooden voice, ‘is it thy
desire that I respond to the questions of thy mate?’
“it was well that thou didst, Blue rose,’ Sparhawk replied.
‘She and I are so intertwined that her thoughts are mine and
mine hers. Whether we will or no, we are three. Ye two should
know one another.’
‘This was not my design, Anakha.’ Talen’s voice had an
accusing note in it.
‘The world is ever-changing, Blue Rose,’ Ehlana said, ‘and
there is no design so perfect that it cannot be improved.’ Her
speech, like Sparhawk’s, was profoundly formal. ‘Some there
are who have feared that I might imperil my life should I touch
thee. Is there in truth such peril?’
The wooden expression slid off Talen’s face to be replaced
with a look of bleak determination. ‘There is, mate of Anakha.’
The note in Talen’s voice was as hard and cold as steel. ‘Once
did I relent and once only, when, after ages uncounted of lying
imprisoned in the earth, did I permit Ghwerig to lift me from
the place where I had lain. This shape, which is so pleasing unto
thee, was the result. With cruel implements of diamond and
accursed red iron did Ghwerig carve and contort me, living, into
this grotesque form. I must submit to the touch of a God; I
willingly submit to the touch of Anakha in the sure and certain
hope that he will liberate me from this shape which hath become
my prison. It is death for any other.’
‘Couldn’t you… ?’ She left it hanging.
‘No.’ There was an icy finality in it. ‘I have no reason to trust
the creatures of this world. The death that lieth in my touch
shall remain, and there also will remain the lure which doth
incline all who see me to touch me. They who see me will yearn
to touch me, and will they eagerly reach forth their hands – and
die. The dead have no desire to enslave me, the living are not
to be trusted.’
She sighed. ‘Thou art hard, Blue Rose,’ she said.
‘I have reason, mate of Anakha.’
‘Someday, mayhap, we will learn trust.’
“it is not needful. The achievement of our goal doth not hinge
upon it.’
She sighed again and handed the box back to her husband.
‘Please go on, Xanetia. That shadow that was pestering Sparhawk
and me was Zalasta, then? At first we thought it was
Azash – and then, later on, the Troll-Gods.’
‘The shadow was Zalasta’s mind, Queen of Elenia,’ Xanetia
replied. ‘A Styric ‘spell known to very few doth make it possible
for him thus to observe and listen unseen.’
‘i’d hardly call it unseen. I saw the edges of him every single
time. It’s a very clumsy spell.’
‘That was Bhelliom’s doing. It sought to warn Anakha of Zalasta’s
presence by making him partially visible. Since one of the
rings was on thy hand, the shadow of Zalasta’s mind was also
visible to thee.’ She paused. ‘Zalasta was afeared,’ she went on.
“it was the design of the minions of Azash to lure Anakha with
Bhelliom in his grip – to go even unto Zemoch where Azash
might take the jewel from him. Should that have come to pass,
Zalasta’s one hope of defeating Aphrael and possessing
Sephrenia would have been forever dashed. In truth, Anakha,
were all the impediments heaped in thy path to Zemoch of
Zalasta’s devising.’
‘I sort of wondered about that,’ Sparhawk mused. ‘Martel was
being inconsistent, and that wasn’t at all like him. My brother
was usually as single-minded as an avalanche. We thought it
was the Troll-Gods, though. They had plenty of reason not to
want Bhelliom to fall into the hands of Azash.’
‘Zalasta wished thee to believe so, Anakha. It was yet another
means whereby he could conceal his own duplicity from
Sephrenia, and her good opinion of him was most important.
In short, thou didst win thy way through to Zemoch and didst
destroy Azash there – along with diverse others.’
‘We did that, all right,’ Ulath murmured. ‘Whole lots Of
diverses.’
‘Then was Zalasta sore troubled,’ Xanetia continued, ‘for
Anakha had come to full realization of his power to control
Bhelliom, and with that realization had he become as dangerous
as any God. Zalasta could no more confront him than he could
confront Aphrael. And so it was that he went apart from all
other men to consider his best course of action, and to consult
with certain outcasts of his acquaintance. The destruction of
Azash had confirmed their surmise, Bhelliom could, in fact, confront
and destroy the Gods. The means of the death of Aphrael
was at hand, could Zalasta but obtain it. That means, however,
was in the hands of the most dangerous man on life. Clearly, if
Zalasta wished to achieve his goal, he must needs ally himself
with a God.’
‘Cyrgon,’ Kalten guessed.
‘Even so, my protector. The Elder Gods of Styricum, as ye