Gemmell, David – Lion of Macedon 01

‘And which do you serve?’ the priestess asked.

Tamis chuckled. ‘Do not seek to annoy me, girl. If I served the Chaos Spirit, I would have taken your gift by force!’

‘But that is how you hold me here. I am not free to leave.’

‘As I said, nothing is simple. But I hold you not out of hate but out of love. You see, my dear, you cannot leave this place – ever. And that is not my doing.’

‘Then who is my jailer? Who holds me here?’ asked the priestess.

‘Your death,’ Tamis answered.

‘What does that mean?’ she asked, suddenly fearful.

‘I am sorry, Derae, but you died when they threw you overboard. I found your body by the rocks, I carried you here and brought you back. That is why you cannot leave.’

‘You are lying! Tell me you are lying!’

Tamis took the girl’s hand. ‘If you left this temple your body would decay in seconds, your flesh peeling away, corrupt and worm-filled, and your bleached bones would lie on the grass not ten paces from the gateway.’

‘I do not believe you. It is a trick to keep me here!’

‘Think back to the day, your hands bound, your lungs filling with salt water, your struggles weakening as you sank.’

‘Stop it!’ shouted Derae, covering her face with her hands. ‘Please stop it.’

‘I will not apologize, for it cost years of my life and alLmy power to bring you back. Naza helped to carry you here. Speak to him, if you disbelieve me.’

‘Sweet Hera, why did you tell me this? I have lived here for three years, waiting for Parmenion to come for me, praying, hoping. And now you dash all my hopes.’

Then you believe me?’

‘I wish that I did not,’ answered Derae, ‘and now I will never see Parmenion again. Why did you not let me die?’

‘You will see him,’ insisted Tamis. ‘He is the reason I saved you. Once you have learned the mysteries, your soul will be free to fly anywhere in the world – into the past or the many futures. But it will take time for you to learn all the mysteries . . . perhaps years.’

‘What do years matter to the dead?’

‘In this temple you are not dead. You will age, as do all of us, and finally your body will give out and your soul will fly free. When it does, I will be waiting for you. I will show you Paradise.’

Derae stood and leaned over the pool, gazing down at her reflection, seeing the red-gold of her hair and the flush of health on her cheeks. Swiftly she looked away. ‘Why was I chosen?’

‘Because you love Parmenion.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘The Dark God is coming, Derae. Not today, not this year, but soon. He will be born in the flesh and he will grow into a man. All the world will fall to him and chaos will reign. There will be rivers of blood, a mountain of dead. He must be stopped.’

‘And Parmenion can destroy him?’

‘That is the question which torments me, Derae. It is why I need you. When first I saw the shadow of the Dark God, I prayed to the Source for a way to defeat him. I saw

Parmenion then, and heard his name echo across the vaults of Heaven. I thought he would be the sword to strike the Chaos Spirit. But since then I have realized that he is also linked to the Dark God, and I have followed the paths of his futures. He is the Death of Nations and he will change the world.’

‘I cannot believe that of Parmenion,’ protested Derae. ‘He is gentle – and kind.’

‘In some ways, yes. But since your . . . you left him . . . he has become filled with bitterness and hate. And that serves the Chaos Spirit. If I were more sure, I would see him dead. But I am not sure.’ Tamis drank again from the pool, then rubbed her weary eyes. ‘You see a rabid dog about to kill a baby, what do you do?’

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